Voided Moon
by Erithemaeus
Summary: Sometimes, everything is just too much. Sometimes, you want to start a new life away from the conflict, to lick your wounds and return back to that pristine time of before. Sometimes...your past follows you into the future, whether you like it or not. A Tenno learns this lesson the hard way.
1. Prologue: Void Jump

...

It all happened so quickly.

The sudden return of the Lo– _Natah, _was too much to bear. Many nights were spent in their personal quarters, staring at the helmet that heralded _her _transformation into one of their greatest enemies. The knife twisted in their heart, and even as they returned to the Orbiter with heavy hearts and a new comrade in their crusade...Everything was too much to bear.

"Ordis."

Their voice rang through the empty halls of the Orbiter, hollow and cold. Once, they might have had inflections that could have distinguished them as either male or female, but the Void had changed them in more ways than one.

Still, the strip of lights flickering to life told the Operator enough of their Cephalon's status.

"What do you require, Operator?"

A synthetic voice speaks through ducts and tunnels unknown, rendered in a tone filled with childlike curiosity and Innocence. The Operator takes a deep breath, a shudder running through their body as they speak a moment later.

"If I ran away...would you still come with me?"

Silence. The Operator had expected as much, but their mind was already set. No matter what their Cephalon's opinion on the subject, they _will _be going. The pain...the suffering...the guilt...it was simply too much to bear.

Then at last, their Cephalon spoke. "I...will follow you until the end O-O-O-Operator. I am your Cephalon first and foremost."

Relief spreads through the Operator's mind as they let out a sigh. Their feet moves them through the ship, and so light that even Umbra doesn't notice. Once more they arrive at a room, the hiss of an airlock denoting their entrance to the chamber.

Inside, the somatic relay stands, untouched by time and tear. The rerouting of power was near-instantaneous, and the relay hums with a discordant tone, its pitch and hues not too dissimilar to the background of space. The Operator takes a deep breath, before a quick tap to the Void allows them to dash into the opening chamber. How long had they last used the relay? It had been far too long.

"Might as well get some use out of you before I finally throw you into the scrap heap." The Operator muses with a thin smile, a single fluid movement allowing them to step inside the relay.

The lotus-like structure folds into them, isolating the Operator from the rest of the ship. Screens flash by their eyes as they focus on a point outside the ship, and they take another deep breath to calm their thoughts.

"Operator, the Orbiter is prepped and ready for t-t-t-transfer."

"Good."

Another deep breath. The screens faded away to reveal the blackness of space, and all that remained was their ability to push through. It felt wrong, using their hard-earned gifts to run, but they had enough of the never-ending strife.

The Operator tapped into the Void, letting its otherworldly energy to take them. Soon, the screen showed a kaleidoscopic tear, and the Operator heaved a sharp breath as they urged their mind even further. They had no need for the somatic relay when they had regained their latent powers under control. But for something like this? The relay was absolutely required.

More thoughts poured into the kaleidoscopic rift; now, the Operator sent in shadows of emotion as well. Guilt. Hope. Despair. Grief. Each and every single emotion they poured through the relay, amplifying it through heights never before seen.

Soon, the rift cracked, and the eldritch energies that came from the Void beckoned. The Operator responded why greater force, and crystalline energies shimmered to life around the Orbiter, with cracks echoing throughout the space around them as it began to whine.

Another round of clashing energies silenced all sound, and the rift finally opened to fit the Orbiter's size. In an instant, the engines sprung to life, humming a rhythmic tune as the ship barreled towards the portal.

The Operator began to twitch, the sudden influx of Void energy causing them to be momentarily overcome by the energies of the Void. Just as the Orbiter slipped through the portal itself, the Operator opened their eyes once more to reveal sclera of absolute black.

"_That's right, kiddo. Do what you have to do."_

...

A shock went through the Orbiter.

The Operator opened their eyes and immediately barreled out of the relay, their sights set on navigation. "Ordis, status report!"

"All systems nominal, Operator. It seems the jury-rigged void jump was more successful than expected."

Ordis' voice was cheerful, the systems on the ship lighting up in rhythmic sequences to represent the Cephalon's joy. The Operator reached navigation a moment later, out of breath and panting on their knees, but a wide smile was on their face at the sight before them.

It was a new dawn.

The planet that stood before them was Earth-like in size, with wisps of clouds going over spots on the planet to stimulate weather. Even the entire world in front of them was not like Earth in the slightest – when Earth was filled with lush greenery as evidence to the rabid plant life, this world seemed to have its various landmasses in color hues that signified a varied climate. But the greatest achievement that they weren't in the Origin System any longer was the fact that the continents were entirely different from Earth's.

A new planet. A new system. A new life.

"Ordis...We did it."

"I couldn't agree more, Operator. Would you like to sacrifice a Kubrow a-a-a-a-a-as an offering?"

The Operator snorted at their Cephalon's remark, their eager gaze focusing on the planet's edge as a satellite slowly emerged from the planet's other side...

"Operator? Is there something wrong?"

"Give me a planetary scan, Ordis. Now." The Operator commanded, their expression hardening in an instant as they watched the rest of the satellite rise with bated breath, their hands gripping on the navigation console as they waited for Ordis' response.

"Commencing planetary analysis, now...Oh dear. It seems that there are some **inferior**– less-evolved human-like individuals currently living on the planet."

"The lights should've been a dead giveaway." The Operator remarked, frowning as they crossed their arms over their chest. The planet's satellite continued on moving, and the Operator quickly turned around and headed towards their arsenal.

"Ordis, scan that planet immediately. I want to know all about its geography, major civilizations, and search for anything that might be able to do that to their own satellite." The Operator barked, their hands moving on the panel quickly as they selected their Warframe and respective Archwing. "As for me, I'm going to do a scouting run on their moon."

"Commands received, Operator."

A quick Transference shifted the Operator towards their Oberon Warframe, before they headed towards their landing craft. All the while, a tinge of anxiety formed on their face, even as they set the landing craft's coordinates on the navigation.

Investigating a shattered moon...the Operator couldn't help but shudder once more.


	2. 1-1: Preliminary Caution

...

"Did your trip go well, Operator? Any traces of the Orokin on the moon?"

"None."

The Operator watched as their Oberon Warframe was stored into their arsenal, a frown on their face as the lights on their Orbiter flickered.

"...WhaT."

A sigh echoes throughout the ship, filled with both exasperation and sympathy. The Operator continued to walk around the Orbiter, a couple of questions answered and a couple of new questions asked. "I know what you mean, Ordis. There were no traces of the Orokin on this planet's satellite. It's too unnatural to be caused by an asteroid impact, but there's no other kind of weapon that would be able to do such a thing if it wasn't made of Orokin technology...unless?"

"Oh, is this my time to report my findings?"

"Yes, Ordis." The Operator couldn't help but roll their eyes. "Yes it is."

"Jolly!" The lights on the ship flickered once again. "Very well. Ordis reports that the technological level of the civilization on the planet is not enough to achieve space flight."

That made the Operator blink. "That seems..."

"D-D-DaNGerOus? Ordis agrees. They would not have any kind of protection against a space-faring empire that wanted to conquer their world. However, there seems to be an a-a-a-anOMaly."

"What is it?"

"Void Fissures, Operator. They seemed to have been closed up by something else, but traces of it remain."

The Operator lets out a frustrated sigh. If Void Fissures existed on this planet, then it means that they were somehow exposed to the Void some time past. Not only that, but it also meant that the Man in the Wall might be lurking somewhere in this world. "Have you tapped into their communications?"

"Of course", came the cheerful reply from the Cephalon, "They haven't even tried to encrypt their messages! What kind of s-s-s-saVAGes would do that? But it is a rhetorical question. Ordis would now work on cross-translating languages."

A few minutes pass as the Orbiter was filled with a low hum, and the Operator busied themselves by playing on some of the noggles by the Codex. A Wolf of Saturn Six noggle was picked up from its spot, and the Operator couldn't help but chuckle as they remembered their previous encounters with the infamous Wolf.

...On second thought, they'd rather not go through the trauma once more.

"Cross-translation done, Operator. It seems to be some network chatter spanning across the planet itself."

The Operator placed the noggle back on its spot, before turning towards navigation and assuming a lotus position. An otherworldly hum echoes through the air as the Operator begins to float, and they let out a sigh as they begin to smile.

"Lay it on me, Ordis. I don't mind."

...

The White Fang was under attack.

It began at the crack of dawn, where some guards were currently keeping watch. Even if most of them had night vision, they were currently relaxed, confident in the airs that no one would have the chance to attack them upfront.

Although, that sentiment lasted long enough until the gates were slammed open.

Officers barked orders to guards, and soon the rest of the base was alive and ready for combat, their guns trained on the smoking remains of the gate. Even Adam Taurus himself was ready to jump into the fray with his men, his sword unsheathed and ready to taste blood.

Yet what stepped out of the smoke was nothing more than extraordinary. It seemed to be some sort of power armor, and lightning that coursed through its shoulder coils was enough to distinguish its use. The armor was pitch-black in color save for golden highlights, and it strolled into the base with an almost easy-going gait.

"Fire!"

Gunfire rained down on the armored foe, peppering it in Dust bullets that thudded in impact against something. The fire lasted for a few seconds, another plume of smoke rising through the area, and Adam Taurus strode forth to finish off what was rest of the alien-looking armor.

He would've succeeded, if it were not for the kilowatts of electricity running through his veins. The venerated terrorist howled in pain, his muscles spasming and relaxing in random intervals as he was all but incapacitated in a single hit, and the rest of the Fang behind him could only stare slack-jawed at the black armor, still standing with an easy posture as a writhing shield of electricity stood in front of it.

The shock of seeing such a thing still alive was enough for a tendril of electricity to raise the armor up the ground, flowing through the coils located all over its body and centralizing on its chest. A second later, it spread its arms out, a pulse of electricity moving through the entirety of the White Fang base, and every single faunus save for Adam Taurus screamed in pain as _gigawatts _of electricity ran through their bodies and turned them into living Tesla coils. Current bounced to and fro every White Fang in the base, their tormented screams echoing through the air as the smell of burnt flesh began filling the air.

A few seconds later, the rest of the White Fang members in the base were dead. All save for Adam Taurus.

Who was knocked out by a quick strike to the chin.

The armor hovered a hand over Adam Taurus' body, watching as the terrorist's body break apart and flow into the armor's hand. The whole process took a few seconds, and after that, a hologram of a trapezoidal figure appeared over the armor's shoulder. "Target captured, Operator. Shall you still proceed to extraction?"

The armor nodded, before a sheath of electricity formed around them. And with a single step, the armor was off, leading the barren White Fang base as the armor made its journey to the top of Mountain Glenn, where an alien-looking craft began its descent.

Once again, another mission completed.


	3. 1-2: Brother Gods

"Operator, are you sure that this is a wise decision?"

The Operator nodded inside the Nidus Warframe, and continued on strapping the man known as Adam Taurus to the chair mainly used to interface with Helminth. As expected, the Infestation came to life, but instead of immediately injecting itself into the figure strapped on the chair, it recognized its master first.

_"Lord Nidus...Welcome to my...domain."_

A hologram of Ordis appeared on Nidus' shoulder. "Your master also greets you as well, Helminth. He's just using this room for the moment in order to i-i-i-INTerrogaTE – I mean, _talk_, to the prisoner when he wakes."

_"No...bestowal of...the gift?"_

"When the prisoner proves to be a liability, yes."

_"I...see...My beauty...would not be denied..."_

The Operator finished strapping down the terrorist to the chair, before nodding towards Helminth and leaving the room. As the hiss of the door echoed behind him, Nidus turned toward the Arsenal, only to find Umbra staring at them with crossed arms.

"Uh-oh."

Exactly. Another bout of Transference led the Operator to stare at Umbra with a haggard sigh, watching as the sentient Warframe kept on leaning against the Foundry. Watching. Waiting for the Operator to tell him what was going on.

Given that they couldn't exactly escape the situation now, the Operator could only convince Umbra of Adam Taurus' purpose in the Orbiter. "We need information. We're currently orbiting a world with an established planetary civilization, and we need to be careful lest we expose ourselves to them. If we retrieve a relatively-high ranking individual that is concurrently hated by the civilization itself, then we get our information, and the civilization doesn't mind the loss of their monster."

Umbra simply tilted his head in response. It was amazing as to how much expression can be gleaned from such a gesture alone.

The Operator could only sigh and slump forward. "Ordis, show the files, please. Translated, as well. I'll go ahead and see if our little prisoner's awake."

"Orders received, Operator." The Cephalon said, flitting over towards Umbra as it showed the former Dax a transcript of their prisoner's deeds, transcribed in Orokin script. "Here are the prisoner's charges, Umbra. I tapped into their communications network and retrieved this compendium."

As Ordis began to prattle on about the various sins of Adam Taurus, the Operator shifted back into the Nidus Warframe and proceeded to Helminth's chamber. Another instance of Ordis appeared over Nidus' shoulder as the door slowly hissed open, revealing an awake Adam Taurus who was currently writhing in his seat and was trying to fend off Helminth's tendrils.

"Now", the Cephalon said, drawling out its synthetic accent as it stopped Adam Taurus in his tracks, "Shall we begin the i-i-i-iNTerroGATIon?"

/-/

"It's gone."

Cinder Fall was a patient woman. She knew what she wanted, and she was willing to do anything to get it. Thus, anyone who stood in her way of her goals was more or less dead. But this...

"Speak, Roman." She snapped, with familiar flames sparking to life once more. Even if her conversation partner was on the other side of a screen, he still shuddered in response to the woman's fury.

"Right", the thief said, adjusting his hat to cover his eyes, "We arrived at the base at Mountain Glenn in order to drop off the last of the Dust, but the base was already gone. Blown to bits by Dust. The rest of them were gathered at the front gate, and each and every one of them looked like they've been cooked alive. Adam's nowhere to be seen as well."

"YOU WHAT?!" She all but screamed into the scroll, the flames around her eyes glowing brightly once more. A ball of flame appeared in her free hand, and she held it up to the camera. "...Roman. You know what I would do if I find out that you lied to me."

The thief was awfully composed however, and even had the gall to chuckle in response. He turned the camera around, and it showed the smoking remains of what was once a White Fang base.

Bodies were strewn all around the area, their clothes fused to their blackened skin. Their eyes were hollowed out, dried out by the intense heat that they had been through, and even the ground had scorch marks that was reminiscent of a lightning's path. The scene was harrowing; the smoke rising from their bodies an evidence that they were still burning and hot. Cinder was sure that this could only be the work of a Maiden, but her senses did not spike up during the attack.

So who had been responsible?

"Enough evidence for you, Cinder?"

"Yes. It would seem that this matter needed to be addressed immediately." The whole angle of striking with Mountain Glenn was a bust. Given that the White Fang's presence was all but eliminated by Adam's disappearance, there was no more avenues of attack...save for one. "Have you retrieved any of the base's security footage?"

"They're all fried. Whoever did this, they were unnaturally thorough. Electronics were all wiped out."

"I see." Another complication. Not even a hint of what had attacked the base. For now however, she would continue to move on to her back-up plans, and put her ears to the ground in order to monitor the authorities trying to investigate the area. Not that she had any hope for them, however.

"Keep me updated on the situating, Roman. I trust that you won't use this as an excuse to escape."

"Of course."

"Good." She ended the call, taking a deep breath in order to try and calm herself down. A few more moments of silence was enough to once again focus on her goal, and she once again contacted another figure...

...This time, there would be nothing left to chance. "Cinder, my dear. What business do you have in contacting me directly?"

"Have heard of the incident in Mountain Glenn?" It was but a rhetorical question. Of course Salem knew. Watts had gotten news of it at the very first second and wouldn't hesitate to lower her standing in front of Salem.

"Of course, dear. Their sudden appearance might be a bit unexpected, but the outcome should be very well expected." Cinder's eyes widened at the subtext. Salem _knew _who had attacked the base. "Oh, but should you be so surprised? It seems that you underestimate how long I lived."

"I-I didn't meam to insinuate such a thing–"

"Sure, my dear", Salem drawled, obviously not buying into Cinder's attempts to dissuade the notion. "Still, I know their handiwork when I see one. They were our teachers, the enemies of the Brother Gods who once ruled upon this entire world. I believe that the gods themselves expressed extreme displeasure upon hearing their names. What were they called again...?"

Cimder drew in a bit closer, unheeding of her mistress's monstrous smile in order to know more about her current enemy. A second passed before a knowing look formed on Salem's face, and her eyes gleamed with glee as she finally uttered the name of the bane of the Brother Gods.

"Right", Salem drawled, drawing back with a light chuckle.

"They were called the Tenno."

...

**AN: Satellites is an umbrella term for an object that revolves around a planet. Like a moon. Like Remnant's moon, for example. The only difference is that moons are referred to as 'natural satellites' because they aren't made by human hands. **


	4. 1-3: A Beacon of Hope and Despair

...

Ordis' analysis had been chilling. The planet called 'Remnant' by the local culture idly went on its rotation, blissfully unaware of alterations done to it.

In hindsight, it couldn't have been any more obvious. The thing inside the planet's satellite, the various scant traces of Sentient energy on the surface that seemed to coalesce into one big giant glow...and the Sentient fragment that stuck out near the planet's northern hemisphere.

This world was the product of Sentient terraforming.

"Well...at least they did their job before rebelling." The Operator mumbled to themselves, a bitter smile by their face. Beside them, Umbra had already placed a hand on his Skiajati, ready to lash out against the beings inside the world.

...However, judging by the information in their cultural database, they had no idea of their ancestry. On how the Sentients had altered and spliced their genes with their own in order to serve as potential vessels for their consciousness – a living, breathing, biomechanical Sentient. Although the myths were something to look into...

All legends start with a scrap of truth, after all. Like the Tenno themselves.

The prisoner had been jettisoned out of the airlock by the time they were able to extract information, their body chucked straight into the star's gravitational well. It was a fitting and pathetic end for a man like Adam Taurus. The Tenno had lashed out against their masters, but they didn't allow the rage over their mother's death to control them. As if playing into the world's cultural stereotypes however, Adam Taurus was a bull. Rage had soon overtaken his purpose, leaving nothing but a dry husk of a man. Stubborn and unwilling to change.

Until finally, he paid for it with his life.

"Operator, S-S-SeNTienT beacon detected near the Sentient fragment in the northern hemisphere. It seems like they're...hailing us. Do you think that they have found us?"

"We're in a Tenno Orbiter, Ordis." The Operator lightly chided, breaking their meditation as they slowly stood up, meeting gazes with Umbra as they did. "It's most likely a trap. Bait. To see if we would charge in without thinking first."

"But Operator, isn't it weird that the beacon be sent out now, instead of at regular intervals?"

The Operator conceded the point. "Well, there's one way to find out."

Silence echoed through the Orbiter for a few moments as the Operator placed their fingers inside their ears. It didn't take long for the Cephalon to put two and two together.

"YOU'RE GOING THERE!?"

Any louder and the Operator would have to shift themselves into the Void. "Well, is there any other way of knowing their motives?"

"YES! WE USE THE SCANNING PROBES TO S-S-S-SurvEY THE AREA FIRST!"

"That's not really a good way to ascertain motives."

"OPERATOR, YOUR SAFETY IS MY TOP PRIORITY!"

"I'm taking Umbra as insurance. I'll be fine."

"...You're not going to stop, are you." It was more of a statement than a question, evidenced by the resignation in Ordis' voice. A few minutes later, the Cephalon let out a sigh, the Orbiter rumbling for a few moments before settling back into geosynchronous orbit.

"FINE. Don't blame me if they turn hostile, Operator."

"Thanks, Ordis." The Operator replied with a smile, patting Umbra on the shoulder before moving towards the Arsenal section of the ship. Umbra followed, hand on his Skiajati as the Operator moved through their Mod storage, retrieving parts of Orokin design that they promptly inserted into Umbra. A hiss filled the air as Umbra accepted the modifications, the parts lying in flush with the rest of the sentient Warframe before a sudden feeling of clarity overcame Umbra.

There, he could see his final moments passing before his eyes, yet he once again accepted the memory and vowed to continue protecting another child. Umbra moved his arms, the feeling of Transference still feeling alien to him, but he knew he could trust the Operator within.

Umbra moved towards the Arsenal, retrieving a fully modified Vectis and Furis before sheathing them to the maglocks attached to the Warframe itself. From there, it was a quick trip to the navigation, where Umbra quickly plotted the point at where the beacon was located.

From there, it was onto Liset. And ready for another mission.

...

Salem watched with bated breath as a squid-like head soared through the air, before quickly hovering in place and depositing a humanoid figure on the ground. Its color was black, with golden ornaments that adorned the entirety of its body, and it carried an air of hallowed gravitas that could not be replicated by any other.

It was true. The Gods' Bane had returned.

Commotion erupted from her side, and she saw Tyrian giggling at the figure standing proud while its craft disappeared into the unknown.

"Tyrian. What is it?"

"My Queen, can I play with him for a moment? I promise not to kill him."

...She supposed she could test the figure if they acted the part. "Go then. The consequences of your actions shall be yours and yours alone."

Tyrian giggled with glee, jumping down from the outcropping and moving with haste towards the figure of black. Just before the madman was in distance however, the figure howled.

Not scream, but _howled. _As if a wolf had declared them their prey. Tyrian staggered back, staring at his arms with wide eyes, all the while Salem sported a thin smile.

It wasn't a fake, after all.

With Aura shattered and Semblance disabled, the figure moved in for the kill, a single swipe of the weapon in its hands dismembering her subordinate's tail, with a quick sweep and thust to the shoulder quickly pinning the madman onto the ground.

Then from within, another humanoid figure appeared, clad in warrior's wear, and they stepped forward whilst the black figure pushed it sword deeper into Tyrian's shoulder.

For the first time in a long while, Tyrian screamed in pain.

Salem turned her attention to the humanoid figure, a little surprise forming on her features. While she may have pegged him as just another ordinary human, the look in his eyes told her that she was similar to herself and that blasted Ozma. A man stuck out of the confines of time, who had lived and experienced too much.

And now, they were angry at her.

"I come here now in a gesture of goodwill, willing to tolerate the armies of Grimm that lie in wait. Yet you dare send a madman to attack me?"

Salem raised a brow. So they had found out her insurance policy? It wouldn't be much of a problem. All she needed was just enough bodies to drown them under.

"A test." Salem curtly replied. "To see if you simply do not look the part."

The Bane of the Gods snarled, and in an instant he gripped her by the throat, her eyes widening at the hostile gesture before she felt the magic flowing through her being _disintegrating_.

"I tire of games, you understand?" The figure squeezed her throat even harder, and Salem gasped in pain. For once, she could feel her life ebbing away, the air in her lungs slowly fading away and oh Gods she can die and she's currently dying in the hands of the enemies of her enemies–

Then, air.

She crumpled to the ground, with great heaps of air leaving her mouth in gasps. She can die. She can finally die. At the hands of the Tenno, she can finally die. Yet why does she fear it so?

"Now speak. I tire of word games."

And thus, Salem talked.


	5. 1-4: Infiltration

...

The city of Vale. Located in the continent of Sanus, it was the heart of the kingdom itself, sporting fine amenities of fresh food gathered from their rich fields and technology a step or two behind Atlas' own. Then again, they were allies.

It is in this city that the Operator roamed, their hands in their pockets as they slowly went to gather strategic information about the city. Still, even when the Operator was blending into the crowd, something felt a little off.

"What's the matter, Operator?"

"Nothing." The Operator quickly replied, only to be met by silence from Ordis' end. With a sigh, they touched the button on their communicator. "...Alright, it's _something. _The Orokin Empire was a lot cleaner than this, but at least the food here is better."

'Better' was an understatement. While the Operator's hunger was solved by each Warframe's nutrition systems, the taste was akin to bland sandpaper. It was the main reason they always used his Orbiter's Foundry to generate foodstuffs for their own needs, but when you mostly rely on a fabricator of _weapons and gear _to create food, the Operator didn't know as to how they didn't go insane.

"Operator, you're going to put in a few more kilograms at this rate."

"Bite me, Ordis. Being heavy doesn't change any variables to account for Transference."

"While it's true, please remember that you're on a mission. A _very _important one in order to secure goodwill against all factions."

"Remind me as to how you convinced me in the first place."

"Favors from both factions?"

"Nah."

"The ability to extort favors from them?"

"Really?"

"Well, it stands to reason that you can just force them to do so...Oh! I remember the white-haired **who–**woman telling you that you can keep a dragon as a pet!"

"That. Exactly that."

"We're going to need to retrieve some new segments in order to prevent hull breach, however."

The Operator stopped in their tracks, just in time to avoid a truck barreling their way through the road. Its driver cussed at him in some obscenities, but the Operator ignored such drivel. Their mind all but shut down on one phrase.

Orbiter Segments.

"No Argon Crystals."

"Operator, you must understand that such crystals are needed to provide energy to–"

"NO!" The Operator screamed, startling the individuals around him, but they quickly returned to their own lives when they realized that the Operator was just taking to someone else. "No more Argon Crystals. I am _sick _of farming those things. Well, not unlike Nitain, but I rarely use those. And I've got a stockpile of them."

"Operator–"

"Here's a plan: get a canister full of Argon, and chuck it inside the Somatic Relay. Then we'll wait if we can get a crystal out if it."

"You can't just **MAkE **synthetic Argon Crystals–"

"So, help me Ordis, but I _will _mute you." Silence on the other end. "...Glad to have an understanding. See you soon."

With that, they turned off the communicator, sighing in relief as they turn their heads toward the traffic sign. A certain part of their mind scoffed at the frankly coal-fired method of directing individuals, but neutral sentries weren't invented yet. That, and given the Sentients' disdain for Orokin tech.

"Hey kiddo. Still thinking about living here for the rest of your life?"

The Operator froze, reeling back their foot just as the traffic light switched and another truck barreled through. With a scowl, they turn towards the direction of the voice, finding themselves face to face with an old friend...ally...enemy.

"Why the long face, kiddo? You should be missing me."

"Why the hell are you here?"

"Not here, but _here_", the Man in the Wall replied, tapping their finger against their temple. The rest of the Operator's surroundings slowly drifted off, and their gaze focused on their 'twin's sight.

A rush of memories assailed them. Not the Operator's own, but with others. They saw humongous figures of overarching steel and rust, looming above the skies and speaking in the voice of a legion. Droves upon droves of figures fell upon them, but they were repulsed, their eyes glowing a haunting gold as they turned against their comrades.

Then, the memories were gone, replaced with a twin of themselves with soulless black eyes. "What the hell was that?"

"Walk with me, kiddo."

Much to the Operator's chagrin, their body moved alongside the will of the Man in the Wall. Once again, they felt like they lost control. Like with the Lotus, Teshin...Rell.

"...Enough." The Operator gritted out, hissing out the word as the Man in the Wall turned to face them, black eyes filled with glee.

"Oh? Have enough strength to resist, kiddo? Well...that's good."

The Man in the Wall leaned closer, a grin on their face that sported more teeth.

_"That's good, kiddo. I **always **wanted a challenge."_

With a bark of laughter, the Man in the Wall disappeared, and the splitting headache inside the Operator's mind seemed to ease. The moment the Operator turned to look up however, they saw a glowing red projectile headed their way.

"Look out!"

...Sometimes, there are acceptable cases that needed to watch the world burn.

...

"I'm done with this."

Beneath the fire and flames came out an unharmed young man, their black eyes narrowed at the direction as to where the shot had come from. Meanwhile, the venerated thief known as Roman Torchwick warded off another blow from the Faunus that ruined his operation, and glanced towards the newcomer.

"Kids seem to be crawling out of the woodwork, these days..."

"Hey."

"Yeah?" Warding off another strike from the cat, he slid his cane into her guard and slammed her throat with the handle. She choked, and he quickly chose the opportunity to kick her in the gut and throw her a few meters away.

"Were you the one who threw that?"

"Unless you've met more charming individuals, then yes. I am."

"Ah." The young man in front of him oozed nonchalance, even after taking a Dust round to the face that should've laid him low for a few moments, Aura or not. He even scratched the back of his neck with an awkward smile.

"...Don't do it again, then."

"I'll try." Torchwick drawled back, and slung his cane over the shoulder as he watched the young man go on his merry way. Needless to say, it didn't take a genius to find out who shot another Dust round.

As flames exploded and rumbled through the docks, Torchwick couldn't help but feel a little bit apprehensive of what he had done. Sure, he took the risk to make sure that the kid didn't turn out to be another one of those pesky Huntsmen, but at what cost?

...Probably just a depleted Aura. Worst case scenario, the kid's face burns off and he's forced to give the kid plastic surgery. Torchwick sincerely hoped that it wasn't the latter.

When the smoke died down, a figure emerged from the flames, a warrior in pitch-black with gold ornaments all over their body, wielding a katana by their waist along with some wonderfully-crafted guns. Alright, so maybe Torchwick had pissed the kid off.

The figure howled, the waves of sound filtering through Torchwick's ears as the man gritted his teeth to withstand the pain. It lasted for nary a moment, yet when Torchwick turned to his watch–

–Where had all his Aura gone?

Torchwick could only blink before the figure all but appeared in front of him, the pommel of their katana already halfway to his temple. The renowned thief could only let out a soft sigh before his world turned black.

...

**AN: Radiant Howl and Operator damage strips Sentient shielding like wet tissue paper. Everyone in Remnant descended from uplifted species of primates laced with Sentient genes when they terraformed and uplifted Remnant. You do the math.**

**It makes sense logically if I follow my headcanon, but you have _no _idea as to how difficult it is to be juggling this concept before the Operator even comes in.**

**Remember, the Operator controls the Warframes. Everything that they can do can be done in Operator mode as well. In terms of Warframe worldbuilding, they can't use that against everyone else since Grineer, Corpus, Infested, and Sentients kick their asses with just a few stray bullets.**

**But RWBY? The world where style comes in first for some reason? And with the ability to strip all their defense as well? Operator's gonna be stomping on people.**

**And there's the bulk of my problems.**


	6. 1-5: The Search for Solace

...

By the time that local law enforcement had arrived on the scene, Torchwick was already gone. Ruby had been disappointed that she didn't face the thief, but her worry about Blake's condition meant that she tried her best to console the ex-terrorist on letting the White Fang go.

Still however, it didn't stop her worrying in her seat, with silver eyes darting to and fro the room. When was the last time that she had been in an interrogation chamber? Right, just before she was accepted into Beacon.

...Ruby hoped that the person that she would be speaking to would be Professor Ozpin as the door creaked open.

Much to her inner chagrin, she let out a sigh of relief as the clack of a cane went through her ears. A few seconds later, she glanced up from her lap to find the Headmaster sitting across the table, his fingers steepled to cover his mouth.

"Don't worry, Miss Rose. Miss Belladonna wouldn't be put into prison. A few bouts of detention with Glynda yes, but her actions were not dire enough to be enough for expulsion."

At that, Ruby could only heave a relieved sigh. Blake was fine. They were all fine. The only thing left was Torchwick and the White Fang, along with–

"Miss Rose, I've heard that you saw another figure with Roman Torchwick."

"A-Ah..." Ruby couldn't help but laugh. How did the Headmaster find out? She didn't know. All that she knew was that she basically lied to his face, and there was a good chance that she would be punished for it.

"W-Well, it was pretty dark at the time? And there was smoke covering Torchwick and everything before the guy left with him." And hadn't _that _been a failure as well? She had tried to stop the man. She really did.

But that howl...She didn't know how the man did it, but if it was the guy's Semblance, then the ability to quickly strip away someone's Aura would be quite dangerous, even _if _they were working for the good guys.

"But you at least saw them?"

"W-Well, yes..."

"Perfect." If the Headmaster knew she was nervous, then he didn't show it, instead sliding over a photo from a camera. "Now, I'd like to ask you if this is the same person that you saw."

Ruby's eyes widened, seeing a figure in black with golden ornaments all over its body. Immediately her eyes went to the figure's weapons, finding a katana, machine pistol, and what could only be a sniper rifle on the figure. She might've begun drooling over the weapons, if it were not for the Headmaster's critical expression. Like it was something that was more important than either Torchwick's escape or the White Fang. The question is, what could it be?

"Yup. That's the guy."

The Headmaster seemed silent for a few more seconds, frowning even deeper for some reason. "Thank you for your input, Miss Rose. If that is all, then I would be leaving–"

"Wait!"

Ruby internally screamed, watching as the Headmaster stopped in his tracks and turned to face her. "Yes, Miss Rose?"

...Ah, screw it. Not like it could get any worse. "What was the guy that I saw? Is it a good guy or a bad guy?"

Her Headmaster seemed to chuckle, retrieving his cane and mug before going towards the door. "They are called the Tenno, Miss Rose. I'm sure you can find some information about them in books and the like."

Ugh. She shouldn't have asked.

...

"Set him down. Carefully." The Operator added, just in time for Umbra to pause and lay down Torchwick onto the bed of their apartment. With a sigh, the Operator turns towards the lone chair in the room with a raised brow.

"I assume you're one of his cohorts?"

A sound of shattering glass echoes through the stale air of the Operator's apartment, revealing a young woman with multi-colored hair and heterochromia. If it were not for her clothes, she would have fit perfectly as a part of the Orokin elite. Would've, being the case.

The Operator didn't exactly know how the Orokin rated their standards for beauty.

In any case, the woman nodded with a genial smile, but the Operator could see a glint of caution in her eyes. In return, the Operator held up his arms with a disarming smile, their hidden Amp ready to provide a quick burst should the woman prove hostile.

"Look, just get him. He was the one that shot us first, so we retaliated in kind."

The woman huffed, hopping off her chair and strolling over towards the unconscious prisoner by the bed. Before she even got halfway however, Umbra growled, and the woman paused in her step to glance towards the Operator.

"Umbra." The former Dax turned towards the Operator with a hand on their Skiajati, and silence filled the air for a few moments before the sentient Warframe returned back to a neutral position.

Without missing a beat, the woman continued on strutting towards her unconscious employer, touching his arm for an instant before their figures shattered like glass.

Umbra reacted immediately, their Exalted Blade cleaving through the air and cleanly cutting through the bed. The Operator could only let out an annoyed sigh as they rubbed their eyelids, with some stars appearing in and out of their vision before turning to face the former Dax.

"Look, just let me handle this, alright?" The Operator asked as Umbra crossed his arms. They couldn't help but let out a sigh. "Listen. Just because they were once a slave race to the Sentients didn't mean that they are an immediate hostile. Think of them as...alien lifeforms with an Orokin mindset."

The Operator paused. "Actually, scrap that. Just treat them like you would normal humans. Wouldn't want you trying to kill them all, don't we?"

Umbra kept his position and stared, letting out a single snort. "See? You're laughing. I'll be right back; just stand guard on the room for now."

With that, the Operator waved towards the former Dax once, before making their way out the door. Instead of walking towards the landlord's flat however, the Operator turned the other way, towards the docks that looked on the ocean that reminded them of the large lake on Cetus.

In any case, the Operator knew it. Umbra probably did as well. They were simply looking to get outside and feel the rush of saltwater air against their face. To regain a facsimile of what they had lost.

With a single bound, they mantled over the concrete barrier, and let themselves be lost to the Void.

The rush of the energy against their skin, allowed them to release a short sigh, one filled with both pleasure and relief at the fact that they can still use their powers for the moment. When they shifted back into reality, they had their Amp ready as they landed on a container with a small sound. Eyes roving their surroundings, they were able to make their way towards one of the piers that met the sea, and the Operator takes the time to sigh and sit in front of the waves.

"Hey, kiddo."

The Operator groaned. It would seem like someone just needed to interrupt their solace.


	7. 1-6: Picking up Messages

...

_"Find the man– no, _snake – _that calls itself Ozpin. Recall the other half of our story. Decide as to which path to trod."_

The words kept playing around the Operator's mind, their free hand idly flicking a Scroll open and closed. They had a small frown on their face, accentuated by the various minor yet fundamentally critical problems that have been building up ever since they had dropped down on the surface.

Umbra was not a bad choice for a companion, given his ability to act independently of the Operator. What the problem was however, was Umbra's thirst for Sentient blood. Which was fine, until Ordis' scans on their last prisoner showed that each of them possessed traces of Sentient remodelling. Everything and everyone was descended from species that the Sentients had uplifted with their own bodies. A sick version of an interconnected family, but in reality more of a relationship between master and slave.

One of his other concerns. The whole world itself. Myths that told of events in olden times were hidden behind ciphers and encryption worthy enough for a civilization of their stage. Of course, it couldn't handle a candle to Ordis, but it was jarring to see a civilization apparently valuing interdependence to hide such innocuous things under heavily-guarded wraps. More of this 'Ozpin's fault, the Operator was sure about that.

Their hand glances down towards their Amp, a handcrafted piece that more or less resembled pile of junk than the more aesthetically pleasing ones from the Quills. Maybe it was the damn thing's fault that they had been having more visits from the Man in the Wall. Maybe it wasn't. In either case, it didn't hurt to be too paranoid. A trip to the Arsenal might be in order.

While Umbra is useful for dealing with the inhabitants of this planet in a direct encounter, the fact remained that the former Dax was not the most..._subtle,_ of the Warframes currently in the Operator's Arsenal. Granted, the Oberon could be put into the same boat, but...time and favoritism had allowed the Operator to utilize their most favored Warframe in roles other than intended use.

Well, that and judicious use of Ciphers, of course.

"Hello, kiddo."

The Operator sighed, barely sparing their twin a glance as they settled themselves next to the Operator. "Seems like you've been thinking a lot, lately. Gathering information, provoking subterfuge...Just like the rabid dogs that the Orokin raised the lot of you to be, huh?"

...A few seconds pass before the Operator glances towards the Man in the Wall, their eyes hard like chips of coal. "That memory that you shared with me...it was a Neural Sentry, wasn't it?"

"Oho, looks like you're learning kiddo." The Man in the Wall replied back with a mocking smile. "If only you were this fast when going to the Reservoir, then your precious Natah wouldn't have been taken by that shiny Orokin twat."

Space around the Operator rippled, with wisps of the Void sparking out from the Operator's body as they let out a sharp sigh. Their clenched fists shook once, before utter serenity settled on their face. "A Neural Sentry meant that Orokin Towers exist here, possibly brought by the Sentients that terraformed this planet a long time ago."

"Go on. I'm listening."

"Neutral Sentries – or their Sentient equivalent – were specifically designed to protect against intrusion to protect important data. Be it research logs, Warframes, or..."

Everything clicked, even as the Man in the Wall gave a wicked smile.

"Now, now, I don't think that I'm altruistic enough to give you some semblance of hope. If you want it...take it for yourself. With my help, of course."

The Operator ignored the Man in the Wall, pressing a finger against their comm link. "Ordis, scan for Orokin structures on the planet, whether they be on the surface plane, subspace, or Void-shifted."

"Orders received, Operator." Came the light voice of the Cephalon, but the Operator wasn't done yet.

"Also, pick me up at my coordinates. I'll need to get some additional equipment from the Orbiter."

"Roger." Ordis chimed, "Would you like **SoME FRieS wITh tHat**?"

The Operator sighed. "When I told you to listen in on passive data packets, this wasn't what I expected." With a sigh and a shake of their head, the Operator turns towards their twin, only to find them mysteriously missing.

Somehow, the Operator could only let out a long-suffering sigh. It would seem like the Man in the Wall is as fickle as ever.

...

Umbra tinkered with the various furniture around the relatively cramped room. Smooth digits of obsidian with golden ornaments carefully picked up a ceramic teacup, holding the handle carefully for fear of accidentally turning it into a pulse inverter. Of course, such a thing was prevalent during the Orokin's Golden Age, where everything had been applied with judicious use of Forma in order to create ordinary furniture that is as dangerous as the weapons that the Tenno themselves wielded.

Sadly (and much to Umbra's relief), the teacup didn't convert into a pulse inverter, the porcelain piece being replaced back on the gold-decorated saucer that somehow _didn't _turn into an impulse grenade. The former Dax lamented the way that the humble Anasa sculpture could even be used as a makeshift gattling rail, but their grievances were halted for a moment as the door towards their charge's room opened.

A crackle of energy later, and the door opened to show an Oberon Warframe leaning down to fit inside the room. Umbra quickly sheathed his Exalted Blade while crossing his arms over his chest, and the Oberon Warframe quickly took a spot inside the dresser before a jolt of Transference allowed the Operator to leave the confines of their current Warframe.

Umbra leaned back, seeing the Operator now kitted out in their full gear, with their attire ready for combat and a Quill-made Amp snugly fit to their left wrist. Unlike the cobbled piece of junk that the Operator had an hour or two ago, the product was more defined, radiating a certain kind of regality and caution that once made up the Eidolons.

Still, Umbra couldn't help but glance towards the Oberon Warframe, tilting his head to the side. In response, the Operator cleared their throat, adjusting the braces on their Amp and turning some knobs on their Amp's prism.

"As much as you're good for direct confrontations, the Oberon's for more...subtle, touches."

Umbra once again stared towards the Oberon Warframe, almost standing three meters tall with an imposing color scheme of black, white, gold, and blue. The horns even looked more menacing with the Orokin coloring scheme, and Umbra couldn't help but turn towards the Operator once more.

This time, the Operator coughed and looked away. "Trust me. It's more subtle."

...

**AN: In Tenno vocabulary, 'subtle' is equivalent to plants appearing all around you and making you hallucinate. I see what you did there, DE...**

**Kidding aside, if you haven't been paying attention, then this is like the beginning of the first cinematic quest in Remnant. Of course, Oberon's there since I main him. Duh.**

**...Please take me to tridolons. I have 360 degree Hallowed Ground coverage. I have fully-modded Vectis that still deals 2k damage to Eidolon Synovia for some reason. Please. I need standing to gild my Amps.**


	8. 1-7: Down the Rabbit Hole

...

"Ozpin, you _know _that you can't let control of the Festival's security go to anyone else other than Vale!"

"I know that Glynda, but James has been pressuring the Council as of late and making sure that–" The esteemed Headmaster of Beacon freezes, his Deputy stacking up behind him as they laid eyes upon the lone figure in his office. Two pairs of eyes widen at the sudden surge of plant growth, but the flecks of light that fluttered around each plant was enough to put the both of them in high alert.

In the middle of the field of plants stood a goat-like figure, with horns coming out of its headpiece as other protrusions on its body ended up in leaves and branches. The figure looked like gnarled obsidian wood came to life, staring at the two of them with various lights ranging from gold to blue.

In an instant, Glynda had already raised her crop, her Semblance flickering to life as she turned a few pieces of furniture to scrap and flung them at high speed towards the goat-like figure itself.

The debris simply bounced off the figure however, with small ripples of blue light emanating from the collision points. It seemed that the figure had point shielding, a technology that was still under Atlas' developmental stage.

Even as debris continued on trying to pierce through the figure's defenses, unblinking golden eyes turn towards Ozpin before tilting to the side. Ozpin tightened his grip on his cane, amber eyes tracking each gesture of the alien figure currently in the middle of his office, and promptly jumped back with a quick flick of the alien figure's wrist.

His Deputy wasn't as lucky however, and Glynda Goodwitch was hoisted up by an unknown force as her eyes widened, turning towards Ozpin for guidance just before the rebound occured.

Aura flexed against metal, and Glynda hissed at the searing pain that flowed through her body, filling her mind with various idiosyncratic sensations as she tried to orient herself in a combat-ready position once more. On the flip side, Ozpin yelped as his eyesight was overshadowed by a kaleidoscope of colors, his eyes trying to regain their vision as he staggered about his office.

A hand gripped Ozpin by the throat, hoisting him upwards with inhuman strength, and the Headmaster could barely choke out words as he regained his vision and found himself staring face to face with unblinking golden eyes.

Space seemed to twist and bend around the alien figure, and a human-like figure constituted themselves out of the figure, bearing a scarf around their neck and sporting coal black eyes filled with conviction.

"I assume you have heard of the Tenno." The human figure spoke, their voice placing them by about fifteen years of age. Yet Ozpin knew the truth when he saw into the eyes of the person in front of him. Another figure who had lived more than their fair share's worth of life.

"The bane of those you called your gods. Demons that use power beyond your understanding to render the gods useless against our domain. Even now you grow weak, the fingers further digging into your throat every second that I hold you up."

Glynda seemed to regain her senses, and another flick of her riding crop sent the orbiting debris towards the human-like figure. In return, they scoffed, firing a blast of _something _at her, and Ozpin's Deputy was promptly smashed into the wall, rendering her unconscious. Ozpin could see her Aura fizzling around her.

"You shall answer my questions, lest I be forced to test if your mind splinters till I undo your 'curse'. Am I clear?"

The human figure didn't even wait for a reply before the alien figure released its grip, dropping Ozpin to the floor. The Headmaster coughed, a quick twist of magic allowing his cane to fly towards him, only to be stopped by _something _that came out of the human figure.

In return, the human figure held onto Ozpin's cane, blasting him with a force that rendered his Aura gone and mind reeling from the pain.

"Now, let's start with a simple question. Had you met any other Tenno before me?"

...

"Coordinates received, Operator. Do tell me of your mission's results soon."

The Operator switched off their comm link, the doors of the elevator opening without a sound. Green torches suffused the dank place with eerie light, yet the Operator ventured forth without an ounce of fear. Behind them, Umbra followed, their Exalted Blade crackling with energy as the man known as Ozpin was forced to march under duress.

"I'm guessing this place is for last defense." The Operator spoke, eyeing the side halls that led into stores of ammunition, food, and water. "Suffice to say however, this is not the case for you. Salem called you a snake. It is fitting for the both of you."

"What do you want?"

The Operator stopped, a scoff escaping their lips as they turn towards Ozpin with darkness glimmering beneath coal orbs. "Why, the same thing you once wanted."

At the Operator said that, they returned their gaze towards the massive Orokin door. Gold and white shone pristinely heedless of age, with cracked stone leaking meat-like substances that intertwined with the rest of the space.

The Operator shifted, a spike of Transference bringing the Oberon Warframe to the fore. In response, the Orokin door seemed to react, with age-old stone cracking and shifting as hidden mechanisms slowly turned the ginormous door to open.

Yet still, an ugly feeling burned in the Operator's gut at the sight of a large part of the door being all but burnt open. By primitive tools, they could guess.

At last, the Orokin door revealed its majesty, showing the insides of the Orokin Tower that had been embedded into it. With practiced ease, the Operator bade their current Warframe to explore the area, taking note of Transference signals, all the while the low hum of the Neural Sentry filled the air.

Their sensors turned to the arboriform at the center of the furthest room, and the darkness that enveloped it. A quick nudge of the head told Umbra as to his instructions, and the Exalted Blade crackled as the former Dax goaded Ozpin to come closer to the yawning void.

Without preamble, the Operator jumped down, with Umbra following suit as the former Dax held Ozpin in a fireman's carry. They fell for a few seconds, eventuality landing on their feet before they beheld the Orokin architecture before them.

That, and the legion of bodies with weapons aimed at them, with Orokin Control Devices attached on each and every single individual.

"No..."

The Operator ignored Ozpin's horrified whisper, instead gathering void energy by the palm of their hand. With a quick slam, the walls and floor were immediately covered in lush greens, with specks of light flitting in between each leafy apparition as if they were fairies.

Then, as if in a macabre daze, the legion of bodies turned towards one another, their weapons at the ready. It only took a single spark to ignite the powder keg, and it was lit soon enough.

A shot rang through the air, and blood spattered on the Orokin walls.

...

**AN: The plot thickens! Sort of. No, really. You can probably guess what happens next given one specific detail.**

**As for including the Empyrean content? I don't know. There's too much stuff to go through without throwing that pile into the mix. I've got some ideas about the Railjack and Cy, but it isn't pretty. Or ethical.**

**I don't even know if I'm going to include the damn thing, but it's likely that I need to do so out of necessity. For plot reasons.**


	9. 1-8: Turning Point

...

A single shot rings through the air, and the hallway goes silent. Smoke seeps from the barrel of the figure's revolver, and the procession once again continues.

"You're monsters. The lot of you."

The stench of burnt flesh filled Ozpin's nostrils, and even though experience had been enough to stymie the bile from coming back up, it was still revolting to look at. What's more, the nail in the coffin was the people that he had left; the ones who told him to live on even though they knew he couldn't die. He could still see his vassals from ages past, slumped down on the walls with blood splattering all over them, and he forced himself to look away at their eyes, mutilated beyond all repair by the golden decoration on their faces.

How many expeditions had he led here, all of them ending in failure and bodies? Curiosity is and always will be the poison of the human mind, and he partook from it like a man out of the desert. Another one of his many regrets, and the results now stared at him with judging glares.

Ozpin stepped over another body, one that of a Huntsman that he might have called a friend. He couldn't remember – such was the curse of time – but nevertheless he felt like breaking down on the spot. Another one of those who trusted in him, dead. Forced to serve an enemy and eventuality died a fool's death.

Even though the figures that held him hostage were silent as they padded towards their unknown destination, Ozpin could hear it. The whispers of the man who lived inside that biomechanical machine.

_"This is your fault. All of it."_

A nudge from behind forced Ozpin to stop, a crackling blade of pure energy laid against his ear. Normally he would be confident in fighting off the two of them, but this wasn't any normal circumstances.

They were the Tenno. Aptly named as the Bane of the Gods for their ability in rendering their powers and gifts for naught. It took only four of them to kill the gods, yet he knew that there were still more of them somewhere. All of them having the same capability as their comrades on Remnant – the power to nullify the gifts of the Brother Gods.

Given that magic was the gods' blessing upon humanity, and the subsequent appearances of Aura and Semblances were derivatives of that forgotten age, it was no wonder that the Tenno were feared by those in the know.

Sadly, there was only one other person left who knew the power of the Gods' Bane.

Another crackle came, another silent instruction to stand still. Now, Ozpin stood in front of an ethereal door, rippling and shimmering with a blue that he could not understand. His mind burned, the incomprehension of the object in front of him leading him unable to look away, but at the same time causing his mind to fracture for each second he continued on staring.

He didn't even notice his other jailor entering the door.

...

[Warframe OST: This Is What You Are]

"I knew it." The Operator whispered underneath his breath, taking in the sight of the _oh-so-familiar _scene. Pods slowly rose out of the water, spiraling in a delicate fashion, and it looked like a golden flower that was blooming in sync.

"Operator? What are you talking abou– **Oh.**"

Even the Cephalon was silent, unable to garner words about their current situation. At least, for a few seconds. "B-B-B-But _**how****!? **_All of the Reservoirs are in Lua!"

The Operator simply pointed towards the room around them, taking in the various cracks and faded colors that were most undoubtedly _not _present in the Reservoir in Lua. "Ordis, can you date the age of this room?"

"Why, that would be easy, Operator. I can just reach into the systems and– **What.**" The Operator waited for their Cephalon to continue on speaking. "O-Operator...this room is older than the Reservoir in Lua."

"Before the Second Dream, then..." The Operator muttered, laying a hand on one of the pods as they gave it a more careful glance. Inside them was a fellow Tenno, still dreaming of things to come. The Operator could wake them up, leaving them to forge a path and lay their hands on what is real. On another hand, they can leave them to sleep, gaining their due for the diligence that they had shown in the past.

"Hey kiddo."

The Operator turned around, Amp at the ready as they set their sights on their twin with cold, black eyes that gazed into the void. Meanwhile, the Man in the Wall continued to waltz past them, laying a hand on the pods as a melancholic look formed in their eyes.

"My, it's been a long time since I saw another child...Hate to break it to you, kiddo, but you're all grown up. Not like them."

"What are you doing here?"

"Couldn't I just pass by for a visit?" The Man in the Wall taunted, raising a brow at the Operator. "My, kiddo, you've grown more paranoid since the last time we met."

"You led me here." The Operator replied. "The visions you gave me, they were those of the Neural Sentry stationed here, wasn't it? All of it...for the others."

"Call it a favor, kiddo." The Man in the Wall replied, their pitch-black eyes burning with eldritch glee. "You didn't know it at the time, of course, but you'd piece things together. As I always knew. Now that I gave you the knowledge, I think it's time for me to earn my due. You've been especially...resistant, as of late."

The Operator's blood turns cold, the Man in the Wall's motives incredibly clear. Their lips move as their Amp crackles with the Void, yet the Operator found their vision blinded, with scores upon scores of absolute black filling their vision until–

"**Careful what you say, kiddo.** **I'm not particularly forgiving today.**"

It all lasted for an instant, and a headache tried to split the Operator's head apart as they staggered randomly around the room. In their migraine they saw the Man in the Wall, standing over one of the unopened pods with legs crossed in a lackadaisical affair.

"Pick carefully, kiddo. I'm always watching."

With a wink, the Man in the Wall was gone, replaced by the soft patter on Orokin floor. A soft groan escaped the Operator's lips for an instant, and the comm feed from the Orbiter immediately popped up. "Operator! Is there something wrong!? Your mental faculties received a sharp spike for an instant there–!"

"Ordis. I'm fine." The Operator managed to wheeze out, leaning against a wall as they waited for their heartbeat to die down. "Just...don't play any music."

That line felt familiar for whatever reason, but the memory soon slipped away from the Operator's mind, their attention turning towards the Reservoir right in front of them. Coal orbs narrowed in consternation, with various amalgamations of memories fighting for a place, but all seemed to float away the moment they took a soft breath.

All seemed to pause at that single instant, even as the Operator rounded upon their final decision.

...

**AN: I swear, I'm not cucking you guys over.**

**Main problem is, I got inspired by the Alignment system that came with the War Within, the Sacrifice, and–**

**[Error 404 – runtime.SOON detected]**

**Weirdly enough though, I find myself having enough wiggle room to incorporate the Operator's decision. All I need to continue this is to wait for thy replies.**

**Thus, poll. You can only vote once for the Day, Night, or Neutral path, and I'll be closing it sometime next week. Or there's at least 20 of you people who voted. Whichever one comes first.**

**In any case, hope all of you have a great day.**


	10. 1-9: Awakening

**AN: Well, neutral path won. Though the way is certainly different, the end result is the same.**

...

The pod slowly began to open. One by one, sections of it unfolded to reveal a part of the Somatic Link, the whispers of the Void beginning to crawl up in mists. To the side, the Man in the Wall cackled with glee, watching as another Tenno began to wake up from their dream...and enter a nightmare that they could not survive. Without its help, of course.

"...No."

A hushed voice whispered against the oncoming tide of the Void, standing in futile resistance against forces that it could barely understand. Yet, it garnered some attention, the Man in the Wall turning towards the sound of the voice. Once they met their gaze however, the Man in the Wall frowned.

"Careful what you say, kiddo. 'No'? Try and stop me if you will, but remember that you are what you are because of _me_."

A breath. Yet the Operator didn't back down, a glint of determination flowing into coal orbs. The Man in the Wall wondered what the child was doing, until it saw the child reach out to the Somatic Link.

"NO!"

The river of voices became an overbearing waterfall, crashing down into the child's– no, _Operator's _– mind, and whatever resistance was washed away in an instant.

But the damage had already been done. Rivulets of blood suspended from the air, writhing with the energies of the Void, and the Man in the Wall felt the pain, pain that should never have come to pass unless– "You ungrateful little **_BRAT_**! After everything that I gave for you, you repay me with **_THIS_**!?"

Rubble flew around the room, torn from their moorings by a storm of Void energies. It roiled and boiled, even as the pod fully opened and revealed another Tenno. Another child to sway for its cause...if it were not for that blasted Operator mucking things up.

"This ain't over, kiddo. I'll make sure of that."

In an instant, the storm stopped, held in the air by a reservoir of Void energy. Calm seemed to pour out from the storm, and the rubble was carefully set down by the begrudgingly bitter entity.

"You want to pay the price, kiddo? Then deal with it."

The Man in the Wall glanced towards the bloody stump on their right hand, before they left.

...

The Tenno woke up to the sound of a scream. One that told of pain and suffering...of unspeakable violence enacted on their being.

Their eyes opened, untying their smothering hood as a feminine gasp escapes the air, their eyes immediately locking onto the bleeding figure on the floor. With an outstretched arm, they reached out, only for them to slip away from their pod and crash to the ground.

Memories were a bit hazy after that.

"...Operator? You are..."

"Man in the Wall...had to cut it off..."

"...Glad to have removed the purging subroutines..."

"Place her...Somatic Relay."

A gasp, and eyes widened as she stared into coal orbs, their remaining arm waving in front of her like a hypnotic machine. Behind him stood a Warframe, colored black amidst the gray of the hall, and their arms crossed upon meeting her gaze. Did Warframes do that?

"Ordis, she's awake."

"_Hello~ _Operator!" She glanced towards the voice, finding a hologram of a Cephalon instead. "Well, not exactly _Operator_~Operator, but you get my point. My name is Ordis, Ship Cephalon. It is good to have another **T-T-TenNo** on board!"

She glanced back towards the other person, one that seemingly looked like her. Was he another Tenno, just like herself? Or was it just a random human that had awakened her from...the Reservoir.

"Lua!" Hysterical eyes widened, turning towards the Cephalon as memories from below came roaring back to the fore. "Lua was under attack by the Sentients! Did they– the Orokin, did they–!?"

"**...oH** **dEaR.**" The Cephalon said, even as the other person frowned. "Operator, should we tell her what happened?"

"Better learn the truth now than later." The other figure replied, before they began to walk out of the room with the Warframe in tow. The hologram of the Cephalon turned towards her, already beginning to babble about history, but her eyes were focused on the figure exiting the hall.

'Operator', the Cephalon had called him, the same designation that it had for her. It meant that he was another Tenno, one that was awake for far longer than she was, if she were to make a guess. And if her hazy memories were correct, then he was also the same individual who had woken her up from her dream.

Her gaze focused on the other Tenno's arm, the stump that had crusts of dried blood on its surrounding clothing. A shiver of fear went through her as she turned to listen intently on the Cephalon's impromptu history lesson, but a niggling doubt stayed.

Was the lost arm her fault? Or someone else's? She didn't know. Only the whispers fueled by an entity that haunted the fringes of her dreams.

...

A hand slammed against a wall, a frustrated scream echoing from the former Operator's mouth. The pain was nothing – he was used to more than that – but something else had dug deep and twisted his own damn heart. The very thing that made him a Tenno was taken away, all for the price of companionship. Was it a worthy trade? Teshin would agree. Umbra would agree. Most of them knew that being a Tenno was equal parts sorrow and suffering. Someone needed to share the pain.

The clank of metal on metal cut the former Operator from his thoughts, glancing towards the side as a fellow figure kneeled alongside him in his personal quarters. Maybe they were right. The price of an arm and the powers of the Void were nothing compared to the feeling of a rock that one can lean upon. "Thanks buddy. For getting me out of there alive."

The Oberon Warframe simply nodded, content on meditating while staring at the planet of Remnant. In there, a hidden war waged between two Sentient vessels vying for supremacy, scattering inhabitants uplifted with Sentient biotechnology. A hand twitch, an instinctual itch to find them and reap, but the former Operator stuck the offending appendage into their pocket before looking towards the other one.

Nothing from the right elbow down. There went his Amp, and there went the channel for the energies of the Void. He was free of the Man in the Wall's influence, and his vision was once again clear. For the other Tenno, however...

...She was going to need training. The former Operator could remember his first steps outside the pod, remembering the utter frailty of his body. That needed to change. He would make sure that his fellow Tenno would be strong enough to be able to resist the Man in the Wall's temptations.

A cold spark of determination roared behind the former Operator's eyes as he stood up and laid a hand on the Oberon Warframe. It was time to get to work.


	11. 1-10: Something's Missing

...

A frustrated scream echoes through the Orbiter, only for it to be cut short as flesh slapped against bare metal. Umbra stares at the former Operator with a hand on his Skiajati, before glancing towards the Oberon Warframe by the entrance to the former Operator's personal quarters.

Interesting. _Very _interesting. Umbra hadn't thought of the sight since they tried to scramble their way out of the Orokin tower before its defenses activated once more, but the former Operator's favored Warframe had begun moving out of its own sentience. Was it due to the passage of time? A quirk of being in proximity of the event that caused the collapse of the Orokin Tower?

Umbra didn't know, but he bade a nod to the other sentient Warframe in the Orbiter. If Oberon had noticed, they hadn't shown it.

The sound of steel screeching against metal grinded against Umbra's ears, and he turned towards his student for the moment, now regaining their usual stance as the former Operator's nikana was loosely held in their hand. With a surge in step and flow, they moved, the nikana flowing through the air in a textbook maneuver as Umbra countered with a perfect draw, his Skiajati hitting the guard of the former Operator's nikana in a clash of resounding steel. The strength of the former Dax proved too much, and the former Operator drew back with a step, letting Umbra surge forward with a quick strike.

In return, the former Operator's grip on his nikana changed, another burst of movement resulting in a thrust that pierced through Umbra's guard and would've drawn blood from a major artery. The former Dax nodded, sheathed his Skiajati, and motioned towards the entrance of the former Operator's personal quarters, where a new visitor had just come in through the doorway.

"Oh..."

"Hey."

Umbra watched with no small amusement as the former Operator tried to sheathe their nikana, the blade banging against the sheath for a few times before he finally got it right. A quick pat on the pommel promising future revenge, and the former Operator turned towards his most recent guest and successor with a wave.

"So...Why?"

"I'm trying to sleep. Noise is waking me up."

"Right." Umbra didn't miss the small grimace on the former Operator's lips. "Well, we're just about done training for today, so you can go back."

"Thanks."

"Yeah, no problem..."

The door closed, taking the new Operator with it as Umbra tapped his Skiajati in order to get the former Operator's attention. He turned to glance towards the former Dax, and the latter gestured with a single hand.

"Ugh, no. I'm not coddling her." Umbra leaned on his Skiajati while tilting his head to the side. "...I swear I'll kill you. It's just been a few Earth cycles since she woke up. She needs her rest."

A boon, language is. Umbra had first spied upon the method of communicating with gestures in an old Orokin file that was crammed into the Cephalon's brain, and the eager synthetic construct was all-too happy to assist. The commotion had invited the former Operator, and the rest was history. As was the Orokin.

Umbra couldn't help but feel a small bit of amusement at that thought. "So, what do you think i should do next?"

The former Dax gestured towards the direction of the Somatic Relay. "I mean _after _she's done acclimating herself here. It's my responsibility to make sure that she's safe from all harm, especially after what I had to give up for it."

Umbra turned towards the former Operator's right arm, naught but a stump below the elbow. He gestured, and the former Operator let out a sigh. "Look, I don't regret it. I'd do it again if I had the chance. No more hallucinations, no more insane entity trying to push me to continue on using my powers for its gain. I told you about the Man in the Wall, didn't I?"

The former Dax nodded. Said caricature of the former Operator made him uneasy, at the very least. Nevermind the fact that files pertaining to said caricature appeared often in Ballas' files before he was...

"I'm worried. I know I messed up whatever plans the Man in the Wall had when I pushed my arm into the Somatic Link on the Reservoir that we found here, but he'll come back. In one way or another." The former Operator let out a mirthless chuckle. "All the while, I'm a one-armed invalid that would probably need years of experience just so I can live normally again."

Umbra mimed a trapezoid, and the former Operator laughed. "Ordis? Yeah, he wasn't too pleased at my condition, but he said he can modify a few blueprints that we had to at least get me a new arm. Risk is too big though, given that the Infestation is well...the Infestation."

"Plus", the former Operator added, glancing towards their missing forearm and smiling at the stump. "It's quite a refreshing feeling, being able to live without fear of the Man in the Wall. Maybe it's just that it hasn't sunk in that I'll be living my life without an arm, but it feels good. Think of it like killing Ballas but losing a leg. Still worth it, isn't it?"

Umbra agreed. It was indeed worth it.

...

Silence echoed through the Orbiter, the signs of activity being the breeze in the air vents and Ordis' occassional hums. In response to the overwhelming amount of boredom, the former Operator sat by the Foundry, watching as the matter replicator did its slow and agonizing work. It wasn't any better than watching paint dry, but there was no scuff of paint everywhere in the Orbiter. Ordis was too meticulous to leave paint coating a chance.

He frowned, a default expression on his face whenever he found himself alone. As always his attention turned towards his arm, the cloth bunched up in order to prevent embarrassing events that might happen with loose clothing. A quick once-over told him that there was no arm, but he still felt the tingles of both forearm and Amp running through his body.

With a frustrated sigh, the former Operator rose from his perch and moved towards his personal quarters, their remaining hand on the pommel of their nikana. A quick twist of the grip allowed the blade to sing, the metallic edge glinting through the artificial light of the ship as they stepped into their personal space.

The room never felt so alien up until now.

His eyes moved to the Lotus' helmet, still marred and pristine as he laid a hand on it. Memories played back in his head, the light-headedness that he felt upon seeing the _Lotus _arrive upon his Orbiter...his ship...the remains of his once-forgotten legacy.

A quick swipe rent the helmet in half, with both sides crashing onto the floor with a metallic thud. The same sound that he heard when she left all of them for Ballas. The same sound that banged against the wall when he returned from Earth, seeing their surrogate mother surrender herself to the forces that they were meant to combat in the first place.

But he wasn't a Tenno now. He didn't wield the Void in defense of the Orokin, and in turn slaughtered them all for the monstrosity that they had created. He wasn't sure if an arm was enough to make that distinction. He wasn't really sure if shirking off the duty of responsibility to another was the right choice.

_"Aspida. Quite a fitting name for someone like you, isn't it, kiddo?"_

The ruffling of hair. A parent's kind words. All in a glorious past, before the yoke of responsibility was cast upon all of them. The former Operator stands in the middle of his personal quarters, nikana blade held at arm's length against an imaginary foe.

_"Even though it sounds like a name for a sword, it's actually the opposite. The word stands for 'shield'. Fitting for you, no?"_

A quick lunge, and the former Operator stumbles when their balance was disrupted by the lack of a counterweight. Cloth flaps behind him, but he didn't care. He was in his own world.

_"It's rare to see a sword actually built for defense. After all, neutron blades and Corvus designs are all the rage right now. Can you imagine defending with those? Those blades are most likely going to snap."_

Steel flurries begin to sing in a hypnotic tone, a dance based on the mind's eye flittering past the former Operator's gaze. It wasn't cold and calculated logic, but instinct. A concept that the Orokin had never been able to replicate, for all of their technical might.

_"An Aspida, though, doesn't buckle or snap. The second part of the handle is actually located along the middle of the blade, for greater precision in self-defense. Stab at it all you want, but it would _never _break."_

An inherent flaw was that it required both hands to use, but a skilled enough practitioner could wield such a blade one-handed. It was blunt. It was dense. It was made for durability. But above all else, it was made for–

_"You. Little brat you may be kiddo, but you hide an unbreakable steel inside sharp edge. Maybe that's why I'm proud of you, kiddo. Because if anyone can be put through the wringer and still come out with barely a scratch, it'd be you. Little shield-sword you are."_

Eyes gasped open as Aspida opened his eyes, finding his hand located in the middle of the nikana's blade. Blood dripped from his palm, but his grip didn't waver, merely holding the blade as loosely as he always did. A quick flick into the air, and steel glinted as a bloodied palm caught the nikana by the handle, sheathing the blade in one smooth maneuver just as he always did.

_"Ready for morning training, my little Dax-wannabe?"_

"Yeah." Aspida's voice addressed the empty room, a memory of times before coming to pass as he set his sights on the door leading out of his quarters. He needed a new weapon.


	12. 1-11: Wakefulness and Sleep

...

The sound of metal clashing against metal woke her up from dreamless slumber. A light groan escapes her lips, the beginnings of a migraine forming by her temples, and another crash of metal finally jolted her into wakefulness.

Cacophonies of sounds rang through her head, and she gritted her teeth while prying open the Somatic Relay, revealing a hologram of the ship's Cephalon. "Operator! It is glad to see you awake. Based on Earth's time, it is currently daylight. Would you like me to sing a song?"

Right. Beat to nip that one off the bud, no matter how accommodating Ordis seemed to be. "No. Music."

"Both of you seem to detest such a wonderful art form..."

She rolled her eyes at the Cephalon's mutterings, steadying herself with one hand as she shakily exited her chamber. Cephalons were horrible at creating music. Maybe it was just the overbearing rigidity of the notes, or the fact that everything seemed _too _structured. Either way, the bottom line remained that Cephalons were horrible at creating music.

Speaking of horrible... "Ordis, what's with the banging on the ship?"

"Ah, that would be the former **O-O-O-O– **Aspidas training. With Umbra, I can assume."

She nodded, not really that sure as to how long she had been asleep to find out that some of the Warframes had begun to move out of their own volition. That Umbra _did _look like a prototype for the Excalibur Warframe...

"I'm going out. Maybe they could keep it down when they realize that I have bags running down my lids."

"That is inherently untrue! Your Somatics sustain your nourishment as long as you have enough energy to supply yourself with–"

"It's an expression, Ordis." She chuckled, slowly staggering her way towards the end of her quarters while grabbing onto Orokin sculptures for balance. It was both liberating yet humbling at the same time, finally having an actual body to move in accordance to her will, but in turn she felt every ache in her bones, the strain of her muscles as they tried to make themselves useful once more. Her eyes were blurry, with each shape manifesting in tiny circles of faded light, and she could hear _everything _around her. Her nose picked up on the scent of disinfectant, and her tongue tasted nothing but dry air. She could tell that she was still full for whatever reason, however. Not that it was a good thing when it meant having a dry mouth all the time.

Maybe her fellow Tenno's words were ones to follow. Maybe she needed a little bit more time to rest before she can acclimate to the rest of the ship. But she couldn't exactly do that when each clang and ring of blades grated on her ears every single damn time.

With a phenomenal burst of willpower, she skidded past the doorway and came to a stop right in front of her quarters, heaving and gasping for deep breaths as she turned towards her barebones quarters, focusing on her vision and finding a neatly-arranged set of Anasa sculptures leading up to the door.

...She didn't know why, but it felt like she should be insulted at the frankly practical aesthetic for some reason.

In any case, she pushed on through, the short hallway connecting the two quarters together making her job significantly easier. At this distance, she could already hear the clash of metal, the rush of air that followed after each swing, and the impact of flesh upon the floor as a groan permeated the area.

She opened the door, revealing an Oberon Warframe looking upon the scene with crossed arms. Said scene was composed of her fellow Tenno covered in bruises being helped up by Umbra. Judging by the defeated groan that came over his lips, it meant that their training was over.

...Well, that was infuriating. "Are you two done?"

Her raspy voice echoes through the room, and all inhabitants turn to face her immediately. The other Tenno blinked for a few seconds, glancing towards the numerous bruises in his person, but eventually replied in the affirmative. "Yeah. I imagine it would take about a couple of hours for all of this to wash off."

"Then don't keep banging on the walls. It wakes me up, and it's incredibly annoying to continue on waking to and fro from my quarters to yours." Her eyes narrowed at her fellow Tenno. "...Additionally, you haven't trained me yet. When is it going to start?"

Her fellow operative held up a hand, his intent clear. Her mind focused, the grainy quality of her vision slowly becoming sharper over time, but the hand still looked like one big and horribly misshapen mistake.

"We'll start training if you get enough rest. At the very least, enough for your senses and balance to solidify. Retained intelligence can be set aside for the moment." An irritated sigh rose up from her throat, but she also saw her fellow comrade's point.

There wasn't much that she can do except sit around in the Somatic Relay, monitoring local planetary conditions and keeping herself updated on new and common trends. She needed to be at least capable of defending herself in the future if she wanted training.

But there was a part of her – an insignificant part of her, she might add – that didn't want to wait. A part that whispered that she can always find out for herself. To use its powers for her own ends. She stamped that part down until she was no longer thinking about it.

"I...should be going."

"Alright." If only her vision cleared up so that she could see her fellow Tenno's expression. Sadly, her vision still remained as blurry as ever.

"Take care."

She scoffed, holding back a snort as she managed to lean against a bulkhead. The concern was not unwelcome, but they both knew she would get better. It was only a matter of time.

"I will." She promised, ambling her way back to her own quarters before a large figure overtook the side of her vision. She blinked, finding Umbra by her side and offering an arm towards her.

With a well-worn sigh, she grasped the sentient Warframe's arm. Just where did all the concern come from?

And where could she find it?

...

_"Hey kiddo. Ready to up your training?"_

Aspidas woke up to a bleak ceiling. Not a single expression showed on his face, but the light shivering of his body was telling of his current condition. His breaths were deep and uneven, unnerved by the memories of _that _ship, but there was a part that was more relieved that it was just another nightmare. One out of many. He can handle it.

The warm touch of a hand calmed him down now than he could ever admit, and a thin smile blossomed on his face as he glanced towards its bearer. "Hey, buddy...What woke you up?"

Oberon released its hold on Aspidas' hand, pointing it towards him. The former Operator snorted, stifling a chuckle as he pulled himself closer to the corner that he huddled in for sleep. "I'm fine, buddy. Just...thinking about tomorrow. When the nightmares would stop."

His Warframe banged a fist on its chest, crossing its arms before staring at Aspidas with a turn of the head. The former Operator could only laugh, the pull of sleep lulling him once again as his Oberon stood over him. Watching.

"Watch over me, buddy. Always, and just in case."

He didn't even need to ask.


	13. 1-12: Penultimate Jump

...

"Everything fine?" Aspidas asks, waving an arm in front of her as she slowly blinks the dots and pins out of existence. She raises a hand and smiles, letting him know that she's alright, and he sighs in relief as well. "That's good. I thought that you were a goner."

Her mind blanks at the thought of that, before glancing towards the Umbra Warframe with a hint of trepidation. The Somatic Relay had done most of the heavy lifting when it came to Transference, but to do the calculations required by herself? It was a bit...difficult. "Lucky you, actually."

She blinked, turning towards her fellow Tenno and seeing him frown. No, it was actually a bit more tame, more like a pout without vitriol than anything else. "I learned how to use unguided Transference last, actually. How'd you do it on your first try?"

...There was something about that sentence that bugged her. "You mean to say that you did unguided Transference last?"

"Uh...weren't you listening?"

"I was." She nodded, a sense of elation at the fact that her brain didn't try to murder her for it. "I'm just _confused _as to why you made me do one of the most complex maneuvers as my _first training exercise_."

"Oh." Aspidas didn't have a reply for that. In fact, he slowly backed away, tapping the hand of his pommel while considering whether or not a quick strike using the blunt edge would be able to disable another Tenno. "Well, I was thinking of it as a practical joke. You know, the part where we all laugh about being unable to do something at the very first try...Heh."

"This isn't funny."

"Our perception of 'funny' differs from one another, it seems."

"Aspidas." He froze, his coal gaze locking onto her in an instant. She couldn't help but blink for an instant before continuing what she was supposed to say. The act of Transference is a complicated process with a lot of moving parts that can go wrong with just one misstep. You know this. You were the one that told me this in the first place. Yet you thought it would be a good idea to let me try it out first?"

He didn't know exactly _what _he was feeling, but he surmised that it was probably fear. Fear from the riled-up Tenno right in front of him, and fear as to whether or not he would die from a woman's wrath. "Look, I tried it out myself. I came out of it just fine. Trust me on this."

"I would take your word for it if it were not for the fact that you can't use Transference any longer."

She felt her countenance freeze, with alarm bells ringing inside her head as she met Aspidas' gaze. Cold, hard, unbending. An ounce of guilt rose up within her for even mentioning the event in the first place. He had risked his own life to remove the threat of the Man in the Wall out of their heads, and even woke her up to tell her the truth of what had happened. To the Orokin. To the Empire. To the Tenno. To the Lotus. She should've owed him a lot of gratitude.

But she didn't. Because she couldn't - _wouldn't _\- believe the events that had transpired in the Origin system. Unless she has seen it for herself, her stance on the matter wouldn't change.

"...Training's over for the day."

Aspidas' cold words ring through her ears as her fellow comrade exits her quarters with measured haste. Metal boots dig into the walls of her chambers, and he doesn't even spare a single glance for her even as he exits the room. Orokin mechanisms hide his figure from view, and before she could consider apologizing for her mistake, he is already gone.

She couldn't help but let out a soft sigh. "Ordis."

"Yes, Operator?" She winced at the familiar address. It should be her comrade that needed to be addressed by that moniker. She was nothing more than a guest, an outsider who snuck into the established dominion of the Tenno known as Aspidas. Even if he could not fight using the Void, Ordis should've retained their form of address.

"Aspidas' story..." She trailed off, glancing towards her hands for the nth time of the day. Wisps of blue light responded to her call, jumping and crackling through the air in an otherworldly manner, and she immediately shut the flow off before leaning back into her chamber. "...Is it true?"

"Why yes-"

_**"Ah, got you."** _A voice resounded through her head, carrying weight and authority far beyond what she could perceive. She could feel the voice urging, coaxing her to give control, but another, smaller part of her mind rose up in arms upon remembering what Aspidas had told them during her short stay in he- _his _Orbiter. The Man in the Wall. The _thing _that had possessed Rell (and wasn't _that _delicious irony?) and took over his mind. Was she the next on the block? After Rell...after Aspidas...was it her?

"Get. Out. Of. My. Head." She gritted out, but pain soon wracked her entire body, a gasp tearing itself out from her lips as she screamed. Her hands and feet felt like on fire. Every nerve in her body seemed to short circuit at that instant as they all connected and her mind suddenly felt searing, overbearing, ruinous _pain-_

**_"It's either we do this the easy way or the hard way, kiddo. Choose your pick."_**

A breath, and the pain was suddenly gone. She was left heaving inside her chamber, with Ordis' complaints about sudden brain wave spikes being pushed to the back of her mind as she tried to muster up enough will to actually fight back and not just to hold out against- _**"Me. Come on, kiddo. We both know we're wasting time. You want to get back.**_ **I _want a new body. We both share the same goal. What's the difference?_"**

"I'm calling Aspidas _now_."

_**"Oh, so he remembered the name that I gave him?" **_The voice cackled, most likely in glee. _**"Wonderful, wonderful! There was a reason that I didn't kill him outright. The amount of suffering gained from remembering what is lost is far greater than what any torture I can give. How about you, kiddo? Would you like to**_ **remember _as well?_"**

"GET OUT!"

**_"Ah, that won't do. I should've snuck into you the second your damnable pod opened up."_ **A breath, and the world seemed to sway under her feet, the chamber forgotten as she was splayed out on the floor, gasping for air at the _pain _that coursed through her veins- _**"Alas, I won't make that mistake again. My little kiddo's been growing up when I least expect it, so I better treat him like a grown man as well."**_

"You won't get away with this."

_**"I already have. You lost the second you lashed out."**_

Her mind went black an instant later.

...

"Ordis. Get me the coordinates of the Origin system, and get us there _quick_."


	14. 1-13: Memento Mei

**AN: Fair warning about the content up ahead. If the story isn't M-rated before, it's definitely M-rated now.**

...

It came without warning.

The ship lurched, sending decorations flying all over the place, and Aspidas managed to rouse himself just in time to avoid slamming headfirst into his pile of Anasa sculptures. Confusion marred his face as he slowly pushed himself up with his singular arm, and his eyes bugged out the moment he looked past his window window and saw an Orokin Leviathan skimming past the Orbiter.

He wasn't in orbit any longer.

"Umbra?"

No response. His head turned to the side to see the former Dax scattered about the room, each piece half-gouged into the walls with his Skiajati blocking the mechanisms that lead to his quarters.

"No..."

Aspidas sprinted across the room in a frenzied panic, yanking out the Skiajati by leveraging his weight against the wall. One, two, and finally a desperate third yank managed to garner results, the mechanisms all but slamming into place as Aspidas was slammed to the ground, the Skiajati skittering beside him.

**_"Wrong move, kiddo."_**

"No...No. You can't be that stupid..." Ingrained and trained instincts told him to move, his body willing to follow as he rolled to the side and avoided a Heat Sword melting through the floor beside his face. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, with time seemingly slowing down to a crawl as he reached out to the Skiajati and swung it in a clumsy blow.

Steel sparked against steel, the feeling of overwhelming heat lasting for but a second as immense force built up in an invisible bubble. An instant later, Aspidas was launched towards the wall, a pained groan escaping his lips as he stared at the tip of a Heat Sword, the hot metal a little too uncomfortably close to his liking.

Aspidas turned towards the weapon's wielder, only finding pitch-black eyes and a mocking smile instead. "You _fucker. _What did you do to her!?"

**_"I gave her the opportunity that she wanted." _**The Man in the Wall stated, moving the Heat Sword's blade flush against Aspidas' somatics. A scream echoes through the room as the smell of burnt flesh filled the air, and the Man in the Wall cackled even as the hand holding the Heat Sword wobbled.

**_"Oh, kiddo. You know, we could've been quite a pair. Send everything to the Void. Rule it as a pair of kings. But you just wanted to quit at the very. Last. Second." _**Pain, _searing pain _flashed through Aspidas' mind, his skin bubbling into blisters as they slowly and painstakingly merged with the somatics by his neck. **_"But you thought you could do your father better. The one that taught you the rules of the trade. Now look at where we are now."_**

"Do what you want!" Aspidas screamed, seeming more like a gurgle as his consciousness began to fail. "All I wanted was to be left alone! Not to be dragged into this entire mess! So leave. Me. Alone!"

Another scream echoes through the air as the somatics pierced deeper into Aspidas' skin, the hand holding the Heat Sword already dislocated but kept in place by overwhelming strength. The body that the Man in the Wall possessed was already crying, with tears rolling down pitch black eyes and wheezes coming out of a dried throat. Wheezes and gasps seemed to come out of their mouth at random times, most likely accompanied by tearful snippets of apologies, but the Man in the Wall ignored those, simply hoisting up Aspidas' head and smiled. **_"...Shame. Remember, then."_**

A soft pair of lips captured another but it was only the beginning of a never-ending nightmare.

...

_"My little Dax, I'm afraid I've been a bit...dishonest with you."_

_It was just the two of them in the father's room, the child stopping its cheerful playing with a wooden nikana to turn towards his father._

_"What do you mean?" A tilt of the head and a confused expression fluttered onto the child's face, the perfect expression of innocence. Strong in body, strong in mind...Truly, a perfect body for future generations._

_"I told you that this is my room, correct?" The child nodded, unsure of where the father was going with his words. "Indeed, the truth is that this is the room that I guard cycle after cycle, and so it stands that this is my room. But today...well, father has some visitors that he needs to entertain, so stay put for a few moments while I indulge our guests."_

_"Alright..."_

_The father left, grasping his nikanas tightly with bloodied palms, and he left his room with guilt crushing his heart. The room itself seemed to glow in mesmerizing colors, shimmering motes of light coloring the aboriform that was the centerpiece of the room, and it illuminated the father's guests, well-dressed Orokin in various trinkets and wares depicting of their position._

_But the child continued to play with his wooden nikana, unaware of the curtains rising on the room that his father guarded every day. Of the guests that debated and spoke out against one another in heated arguments._

_Nor the opening sound of a theater, its main attraction blissfully unaware of its place as the main actor. _

...

Aspidas snapped out of the memory, his eyes wide and shaking in fear at the contact. The Man in the Wall's body reared back, a smile on their face as they beheld the look of utter despair on Aspidas' face.

**_"There you have it, kiddo. Your little backdrop on the ship before everything went to hell. Want to keep on remembering?"_**

"No. No more. Please...stop."

**_"I don't think I will. Sorry, kiddo."_**

Another kiss, another dive into the nightmare.

...

_It suddenly occurred to the child that his father hadn't come back in a while. The wooden nikana was sheathed, and the child took his first steps into the large room, only to find that he couldn't move._

_"Wha–?"_

_"Looking for daddy?" A voice asks, and the child blinks to find one of his father's guests standing in front of him a discerning expression on their face. The child's face pales even further upon finding that they wore the garbs of an Executor. "Why, I'm afraid he's a little...indisposed as of the moment. Still making sure that everyone came in here for the party. He's always been a little stickler like that, isn't he?"_

_"Yes..." The child gulps, unaware of how to act upon meeting the gaze of a superior. His father hadn't trained him for this! "Yes he is..."_

_The Executor laughs, their ethereal voice sounding like the choirs of angels. "In any case, it's quite a surprise that I find myself meeting with you. Your father tells me that you are about ten Sols, yet no prosthetics on you whatsoever. Quite intriguing, is it not?"_

_In response to the question, the child simply huffs. "Prosthetics mean Grineer. I'm not one of them – I'm a Dax."_

_"Oh? Quite a learned specimen you are as well, already knowing about our society at such a young age." The Executor's eyes narrow. "...Yes, your father _did _say that he had trained you well. As for my opinion, I do think that you have exceeded expectations. Your father would be pleased."_

_"Of course!" The child exclaimed. "My father's the best Dax there is this side of the Empire! It's a no-brainer that he's here on the Zariman as well!"_

_"I see." The Executor hummed, a smile on their face filled with teeth. "And has your father mentioned your duties upon this ship?"_

_The child blinks, finding a blank and grimacing immediately after. It was no good to lie to an Executor. His father always told him that._

_"I don't know...?"_

_"Marvelous!" The Executor claimed, meeting the child's gaze as they lowered themselves eye-to-eye. "Let me tell you then, curious little child. About the purpose of you, and all the other children on this ship..."_

...

Aspidas was catatonic, simply staring ahead with no lights in his eyes. The Man in the Wall laughed, even as their possessed body tried to strangle out a desperate cry.

They leaned in for another kiss. Continuing the nightmare.


	15. 1-14: All in the Mind

...

_The child stared out into the carnage, tucking his body into a ball at the sight of blood. Bile threatened to rise from their throat, but their father told them that they must always be calm. Said calm threatened to be disturbed once more however, when he heard the sound of feet pattering against the walls._

_The door slid open, paving a way for another figure to enter the Yuvan. It was an older figure, one that seemed to be one of _them _as well, if it were not for the fact that they balked at the sight of the carnage._

_Who was he, really? Based upon the robes and somatics, the child could liken the figure to a Lorist. Those Orokin who did nothing but administer healing in their offices, not even training to become something better. But if one of the Lorists didn't succumb to _them_? Maybe there was still hope._

_"By the stars..." The Lorist seemed to gag, belching upon the remains of the Yuvan as blood mixed in with the excrement that the Lorist had spat out. When the Lorist turned back to the child, there was no anger in their voice. No rage at the sight of their fellow Orokin dead, the cause of which being the small child seated in the lone part of the theater that wasn't covered in blood and viscera. What was behind the Lorist's eyes was something that the child didn't expect to see in anyone else..._

_...Sympathy, nostalgia, and relief._

_Lorists were a weird bunch. __"Are you alright?"_

_The child couldn't help but roll their eyes as well. It would seem like 'common sense' and 'Lorists' didn't mix that well. Of _course _he wasn't alright. Would anyone be, when you're forced to kill an entire group of Orokin plus Executor when they tried to kill you as well? "I'm fine."_

_"Good." The child blinked, looking up to see the Lorist sitting beside him, an easy grin on their face. "Shall we be off, then? Unless you have some other objective to do."_

_"Uh..." His mind went blank. Where was the hostility? Where was the distrust? The child felt like he could trust the Lorist beside him with his life, but he hadn't even met him before. "...Sure? I'm trying to look for...trying to look for my father."_

_"Well, I suppose that would be as good of a start as any." The Lorist stood up, stretching their arms– or their _arm _– while looking back towards the child with another smile. "Let's go? We can talk about your father on the way there."_

_The child glanced to the wooden nikana by his side, brows furrowing as they looked upon the pristine blade, unmarred by all the blood inside the room. When he looked backback, he found the Lorist leaning against the doorway, raising an eyebrow at him while steadfastly ignoring the Orokin beside the Lorist that had half of its skin flayed off._

_With a soft sigh, the child grabbed the nikana and scooted off to the Lorist, looking like a figment of a child that they once were. _

...

_"So...how'd you lose your arm?"_

_"Are you sure you want to know about that?" The Lorist beside him asked with a raised brow, an arm behind their head as they whistled a lullaby from somewhere. "Personally, I don't mind, but it gets graphic. You sure you're up for it?"_

_"My father would laugh if I balked at the blood." And it was true. As a Dax, they _would_ see the blood of others in their lifetime. It was just that the training was meant to prepare them for it. To lessen the blow that it would inevitably deal._

_"Your Continuity." A shiver spiked at the bottom of the child's shine, leveling a glare towards the Lorist with all the seriousness they could muster. Not very much, in this case._

_"Please don't use that word."_

_"Ah." The Lorist grimaced once more. "So you already know about it. My apologies, then."_

_More like told him the entire event, with diagrams included at some points. It was sickening to think that he was just supposed to be another fodder body for the Orokin, and a twinge of bitterness formed at his father. Did he leave him in the Yuvan knowing what they were doing? "You know, I really sympathized with the Dax. Tortured existences they are – what's the point of becoming a badass when you follow Kuva like a...like a Kubrow?"_

_"Kubrow?"_

_"It's a..." The Lorist seemed to fall silent for a while, a thoughtful expression on their face. The child simply enjoyed the silence, idly sparing a glance to the gold and white folds of the Zariman. That, and some of the bloody bodies that they either ignored, moved around, or stepped over._

_"Right! Think of the best dog that Ducats might buy, yeah? Strong, obedient, loyal...now add the face of a bat to the whole thing."_

_The child grimaced immediately. "It was going so well..."_

_"I'm not the most descriptive of people..."_

_"Sounds like a good trait to me..." The child muttered under his breath, causing the Lorist to snort as he tried to hide a chuckle underneath his arm. "So, how'd you lose your arm?"_

_"Tore it off to save someone else. There's only so much biomatter around the area to rebuild a lost lung." The child could tell that the Lorist was lying, but they nodded on, morbidly curious about the contents of the lie. "Ungrateful brat, she was. Even sicced her dog on me like a twat."_

_"Her caste?" The child couldn't help but chuckle. As much as he wanted to call out the Lorist for lying to him, the tale was too interesting to stray away from._

_"Archimedean. Or so she told me. She didn't _look _the part." The child gasped at the insult, before choking even harder at the vicious grin that formed on the Lorist's face. "Told that to her face, yes, but what could she do? The graft was still settling in. She couldn't do anything."_

_The child couldn't help but shudder as the Lorist ruffled his hair. "And that is the reason as to why you _don't _insult the caste responsible for healing your injuries. Got that?"_

_"Yup." A giggle and a snort. "If I come back to you in tatters, then I know who I'll be looking for."_

_"You don't say..." The Lorist muttered under his breath. A second passed before he spoke up once more. "Well, this is the room that I last saw your father in. Hope you guys have a great time, since I need to go."_

_"What do you–" The Lorist was gone, literally having vanished into thin air. With a growl and a __mutter about finding the Lorist once he was done, the child stared at the door that housed his father. With a careful demeanor he stepped forward...into a visceral scene._

_Humans, all the crew responsible for the maintenance of the ship – dead. Hung by their entrails over the machineries they were supposed to manage. The Dax guarding them were no better, their throats slit by a nikana and others frozen solid with their Orvius. Both causes of death were not mutually exclusive, as the child could see blood seeping through cracks in the ice and staining the latter a bright pink._

_The child retched, gastric juices laying on the floor along with their previous meal as a heady feeling went through his head. He had awoken to scene in the Yuvan...He had felt so dispassionate before, but he could now understand the Lorist's reaction upon meeting him. After all, as the only thing alive in a room full of the dead, wouldn't they naturally jump to conclusions...?_

_"Father...?"_

_"You are not my son." The cold, efficient tone snaps the child out of it, and they turn towards a figure coated with blood. There was no mistaking the Dax headgear, the syndana that represented his position as the head of security on the Zariman. The nikana that the Orokin had given him thrummed with technological might, causing the child's blood to run cold when his father turned towards him with blank eyes. As if seeing something else inside of him._

_The Continuity... "Such fortune that fate favors me today, Irkel. I shall tear your mind away from my child's body...No matter the cost."_

_The child could only stare in horror as the nikana moved to decapitate his head. _


	16. 1-15: On the Other Side

...

The Man in the Wall continued to prance around Aspidas' Orbiter, a grin on the face of its possessed body. Soon. Time does not pass in the mind unless the person itself wills it so. Such an event would normally be shrugged off without consequence, but this was the Zariman. The Beginning of the War Within.

It's job done, it slammed its body into an opposing shelf, willing itself to appear before them. The same as usual, but with a slight difference. It might have some favorites among the children.

"YOU!" The girl shrieked, heaving a drum of Alloy metal towards the Man in the Wall, only for it to phase through and clang against the walls. "I NEVER ASKED FOR THIS! I NEVER ASKED FOR ANY OF THIS!"

"You wanted answers, no?" A sharp crack rings through the air, the apparition's neck bent at ninety degrees. "I gave you a way to get them. If it somehow coincided with my goals, then..."

"You're a monster."

"I know that." The Man in the Wall replied, floating away whilst rolling their pitch-black eyes. "It would seem like the little Dax had more intelligence than you, even for Continuity fodder. At least _he _knew how to read through the fine print."

"Ordis! Get us out of Void space _immediately_!"

"Bah, useless." The Man in the Wall watched with no small amusement as the girl screamed upon seeing the frozen portal. Everything seemed frozen in time – even her own body – and try as she might to rage at him, she could only glare and scream expletives. "My, my. What a noisy girl you are. Must be spoiled rotten by mommy and daddy to not know the meaning of _RESPECT!_"

The entire world burned, with crackling storms pouring through the window as the girl screamed and the Man in the Wall cackled. Few minutes pass until the girl calmed down, but it took significantly longer for the Man in the Wall to stop the spasms of glee.

"Oh, you should've seen the look on your face! All whining and snotty and never learning from your mistakes." In an instant, the Man in the Wall was in front of her, lifting her chin to meet its gaze. Pitch-black eyes seemed to envelop her gaze, spreading death all over. "Girlie, grow up. You're not a little kid anymore – in this world, it's eat or be eaten."

The Man in the Wall licked its lips. "Oh, you must look quite delicious if you keep on acting like this. Don't spoil the merchandise now! I'll be coming back soon."

A flicker, and the Man in the Wall was done, her body banging against the wall as she slumped down, breathless and shaking with fear. "Operator? Operator!? Your brain activity is spiking; we need to undertake emergency measures _now_! We are leaving Void space immediately!"

Shudders ran through the ship, a few creaks and groans in the Orbiter's structure causing her to panic just as the chaotic whirlwinds of the Void gave way to calm. Stars glimmered through the portal, and she might be even amazed if she didn't occupy her attention with something else. Namely, her fellow Tenno, still trapped in a dreamless nightmare.

...

_The child looked upwards, seeing another nikana block the strike meant for his nape. Gray eyes widened as the Lorist parried and pushed back the child's father with a swift counter, leaving his father stumbling backwards to regain his footing as he looked up to his savior._

_"You came back..."_

_"Had to grab a weapon first. You'd have think that it would be the first thing to do." The Lorist joked, but soon scowled and muttered obscenities under his breath as the child's father lashed out once more, nikana held like a vicious snake. Sparks rung through the air as the Lorist was forced to take a step back against the man's advance, their own nikana held at the ready and looking at the blood-soaked Dax with a considering eye._

_A few seconds later, the Lorist held their nikana in a ready stance. "Run, boy. Catch up with the other children on the ship - I'll take care of this."_

_"You'll die!" The child screamed, even as his father rushed in once more. Once, twice, three times did his father's nikana lash out, and three times did the Lorist managed to deflect the Dax's strikes. The child stared in wonder, their jaw hanging open as the clash of blades continued to sing inside his mind, and only when did a hand grip his shoulder that he managed to snap back to reality._

_"Off you go, boy!" The Lorist snarled, hurling the child through the doors of the room as Orokin mechanisms unlocked just in time. Adrenaline rushed through the child's body, their arms coming up to shield their face as they crumple over a bulkhead. Pain spiked through all over their body, but they manage to roll over with a wince and slowly pick up their limbs, beginning to limp away from the room that contained his father._

_The child's mind immediately went to work just as he rounded the corner and his father's nikana burst out of the room. He picked up his pace, gray orbs searching through the rooms frantically for any other sign of his peers, but all he found were more corpses and rooms filled to the brim with blood. Bile began to rise up his throat, but he held it in as clothing flickered over the corner._

_A hobble, an aggrieved expression almost bordering on impatience, but it all eventually turned to ice the moment his neck became acquainted with a blade. No Orokin tech, no Grineer downgrades - just a simple steel blade that rankled his throat. The child immediately gulped against the glint of light that shone on the blade, and tried to take a step back. 'Tried' being the keyword - he couldn't move his body, no matter how much he tried to do so._

_"Let's see what we have here, eh?" A voice loomed from behind the child, causing him to gasp as he whirled around onto the path of another blade. It was a child around his age, puffy cheeks and bloodshot eyes telling of what they had experienced, but they seemed to soften the moment they laid their eyes on his own. "...Oh. Well, it's one of us, guys. All hands on board to welcome the newbie!"_

_The child blinks, watching as the empty hallway become packed to the brim with others the same age of his own. Sets of eyes stare at him in all directions - some in hope, some in resignation, and some muttering under their breaths about trying to feet another one. The child could only widen his eyes at the sheer amount of his peers, and uneasy laughter erupts from the depths of his throat as he tries to take a step away from their prying gazes._

_Of course, it would only be too easy. "Newbie. Name?"_

_"A-Aspidas..."_


	17. 1-16: Muddled Farewells

...

_Aspidas faced his father, wracked in the bowels of madness and blood coating his body. For once, a tinge of sympathy welled up from within him. An Orokin Dax, trying to do what is required of his station while shielding his son from the horrors of what was to come. It was heartwarming, in a way . A way that was crushed after his deal with the devil. "_**_Good eye, kiddo. Guess daddy's worst nightmare came to pass, after all._**_"_

_"Get out of my head."_

_"**I give you the tiniest amount of control, and you're already rearing up like a caged beast. Should've known that you wanted nothing more than to shank your dear ol' man in the flesh.**" The Man in the Wall's words echoed through the chamber, haunting music fluttering through tiny gaps in the walls. Those that weren't drenched in blood, anyway. It would go and explain the foreboding tone that most Derelict had in the present. "**But what about your little beau? Getting rid of her so soon? You just woke her up!**"_

_"I gave her a chance. She wasted it. Now she deals with the consequences." Aspidas glared at his former father in disdain, watching as the Dax creaked his head with the sound of snapping bones. "It wasn't what I wanted, but sometimes children won't listen to your words, no matter what you say to them. Only experience guides them now."_

_"**Hypocrite.**"_

_"Never said I wasn't the same." Aspidas took a breath, a shallow shift of the air around him as his footing widened and his nikana flashed in the light. It wasn't his - only by association - but he knew enough of Umbra to tell that the plucky Dax would force the damn thing into his hands if he tried to go off-world without a Warframe. "Now get out of my head."_

_"**I'll watch first.**" The Man in the Wall cackled. "**The last time I saw this, it was to see your pudgy face spilling snot all over the room as you blasted him off the ship with your newly-lent powers.**" A pause. "** You sure you don't want them back, kiddo?**"_

_"You're acting suspicious here."_

_"** Think of it as a send-off gift. And a way for me to annoy you for all eternity.**"_

_Aspidas sighed and took stock of the situation. While his body was off-balance due to the lack of a missing arm, he could leverage enough experience to counter against his former father. It wasn't a bad idea to stack the deck in his favor. However... "You're just going to bug me until I accept, aren't you?" Somehow, he could feel some sort of twisted amusement seep through the chamber. "Fine. Just don't give me my arm back."_

_In an instant, his father's nikana flashed, flowing out of its sheath faster than Aspidas' eyes could see. He urged Skiajati to a guard, shifting his footing while grunting at the force that attempted to dislocate his shoulder. It was ironic that his former father was using his nikana like a bludgeon, but the Void always worked in mysterious ways. Or for its own twisted amusement._

_The former Tenno knew the latter to be completely correct._

_His former father's nikana was deflected to the side, and Aspidas crouched to take advantage of an opening. His body surged forward, a blur of blue and gold, but movement from the corner of his eye forced him to freeze for an instant. It was more than enough however, his former father breaking his guard with a shoulder check and a kick, quickly following up with a devasting swing of his nikana._

_Aspidas' eyes flashed with otherworldly light, and he surged forward like a luminous wraith, staggering his former father while leaving Skiajati at the ready the moment he shifted out of intangibility. The golden blade surged, drawing blood on the inside of his father's knee, and the Dax swung his nikana haphazardly in retaliation._

_The blade cut off a few hairs, but ultimately didn't slice off Aspidas' head. Once more, the former Tenno reached with the nikana, nicking off another kneecap, and moved in for the kill. There was no greater joy in stabbing the Dax right through the blood-soaked Orvius on his back. When you had been killing off the rest of their ilk for centuries, it all became routine - whether they were inside their Warframes or not._

_And at that moment where the tip of the Skiajati burst free from his former father's chest plate, the rest of the power flowed instinctually through his veins, the otherworldly glow momentarily present a few moments before now straining his eyes in full. Tendrils of Void energy flowed through his blade, crackling with fury as the corpse began to hiss, and Aspidas pulled Skiajati back with contemptuous ease as he watched his former father's body slump to the floor, plasma neatly cutting a quarter of his body from the rest._

_"**Consider this your father's legacy, kiddo.**"_

_"Would you _just _shut up. And get out of my head!"_

...

The Liset surged through the atmosphere, hurtling through clouds and Grimm alike as its faulty navigations tried to pinpoint a possible landing zone. Crystalline fields of blackened Dust were ignored, as were the mass gatherings of Grimm slowly hounding on his position. Mountaintops were also ignored - the Liset was his, and the Orbiter still had other landing crafts in its hold - and as the landing craft flew through a particularly thick region of cloud cover, it found a plateau. Right next to a convenient landmark of a pitch-black tower...

Aspidas frantically screamed at the navigation controls, begging them in Orokin and Tenno dialects to finally make sense, only for him to switch to Corpus - and when all hope was lost - in Grineer when the controls didn't respond. He sincerely regretted leaving Ordis on the Orbiter without ever taking a copy of his circuits with him.

Nevertheless, as some sort of muddled sense finally dawned upon him, Aspidas managed to bring the Liset to a jerky, unmaneuverable landing. Far from perfect, but close enough to look like a smooth and controlled landing, even as a particularly large number plastered on top of the interface told him that he did particularly ugly upon settling the damn thing down to a hover just a few meters off the ground.

Damn Cephalons and their damn perfectionist mindsets...

In any case, as the hatch swiveled around and Aspidas landed on relatively soft ground, the clap of a fine gentleman brought him out of his mutterings and curses. Only to stare into the face of a man that he wanted to punch upon staring at him for one singular second.

"A wonderful landing!" The man praised with sarcastic cheer, Voice eerily similar to Nef Anyo's own. Oh, how he wanted to punch his face in... "Even if your poise is quite similar to a drunken lout."

"Calculate eleven-dimensional vectors before trying to sound like a smug little shit." Aspidas snapped back, pushing him back with a little user of the Void before thinking once more over how cathartic it would feel to punch the man in the face. A second later, the pompous-looking asshat crumpled to the ground, with various species of Grimm watching as he held a bleeding temple and groaned in pain.

The former Tenno could only smile as he approached the dark tower. His first day on the job, and he was doing splendidly well already.

...

**AN: Arc 1 end. For those wondering what happened, I'll put bits of those in the second arc, don't worry.**


	18. 2-1: Rain Check

**AN: I am back! Sorry for not uploading in a while. Too many things to look to when college is right around the corner. Plus the particularly vicious writer's block that I had gotten or the past month. Anyways, arc 2 starts now!**

...

"You seem older, Tenno. Wiser." Salem spoke, glancing towards her tentative ally by the long table. Oil coats his arms, a stack of papers held up by their lone arm, yet it doesn't take away from the curiosity of the burnt and shriveled arm and the half-burnt face. "Along with the rest of your injuries too. Did something happen?"

"Another god to kill and vanquish." They reply between bites of a meal, eyes still focused on the various formulae scattered in the papers. She could recognize the script, but not of its meaning. At the very least, she knows that the Tenno in front of her was the one that she had met a few months...weeks...days past? She doesn't know. But the Tenno in front of her _is _familiar. Thus, they deserved the cautious respect that she had for the rest of the Bane of Gods. "This is merely some superficial injuries. They would heal with time."

Her eyes narrow. Were they telling the truth, or was it all a lie? Caution had to be exercised. While the Tenno is around, they would most likely object to her goals. Or not. It was hard to tell. But was it too difficult to ask them? "What are your plans for the near future?"

The Tenno blinks, moving their gaze from the formulae of their elegant script and glancing towards her in return. They hum, stroking their chin with cadence that she had not seen of them some time past, and they speak nary a moment later. "Find a nice place to settle down. Live out the rest of my life. That is all."

"And you're considering the Kingdoms as a place to live in?" She ventures, an eyebrow raised in mock curiosity, and a chuckle escapes the Tenno's lips.

"I find your current accommodations to be more than enough for someone of my station." The Tenno replies back with a thin smile, finishing the rest of their meal before dabbing their lips with their napkin. "Although I am indeed curious as to the current state of the different Kingdoms, I merely see them as tourist attractions. Throngs of crowds are... all but rare in my travels."

Salem eyes the wrecked ship close to her tower, the smoke wafting out of its inside all but gone. A few curious Grimm had poked the ship with their claws, but promptly ran away with tail in between their legs as if touching something vile. She does not blame them. Even the most fervent priests and priestesses of the Brother Gods balk at the sight of the Tenno's telltale vehicles forging past the Brother Gods' defences. Her memory of that time was muddled however. Not much to look at.

"You do not mind if I see them destroyed, then?" She finally asks, causing the Tenno to stop as they glance towards her with a considering expression.

"No." He answers without so much as a flinch. "Although I would prefer such toppling to be done as efficiently as possible."

It was all that she needed. A thin smile forms on Salem's face as she rises from her seat, prompting Watts to do the same as well. "Fetch me my scroll", she commands, walking out of the dining hall with unnatural haste in her steps, "It appears that a few updates are in order."

"Yes, my Queen."

And with that, they left the Tenno in the dining hall by their lonesome.

...

Aspidas let out a sigh of relief upon knowing that he wasn't being watched. His hand trembled on the paper for an instant, but he managed to keep it under control as he rose from his seat and made his way towards the Liset. His steps rang across the hollow halls, keeping his senses trained on his surroundings while staring at the sheafs of papers written in Tenno script. He knew that he was at the mercy of this 'Salem'. As he currently was, the only thing that kept her from setting waves upon waves of those 'Grimm' creatures upon him is due to the so-called 'threat' that he currently presented to her plans.

He was no threat, however. Without an arm and his connection to the Void, he was but a mere civilian stepping into the ring of giants. But that was what the Tenno were, weren't they? Whispers of their name echo across the Origin system even up until now. Always the underdogs, fighting superpowers spanning planet-wide colonies able to wipe an entire region devoid of all life if ever given the opportunity. Their only equaliser was their reputation.

Just like in his current situation. The moment his reputation breaks... It's all game over.

The former Tenno exits the tower, briskly walking towards the Liset with papers tucked underneath his arm and under the curious gaze of the 'Grimm' currently sniffing around the Liset. His lips curl in disgust, but he managed to stomach his distaste for the creatures until he enters the Liset through the hatch underneath. Blue light fills up the space as a hologram once again appears, and a thin smile forms on Aspidas' face at the familiar sight.

"Hello, Operator. It's nice to see you again! Is it time to **e-e-e-eXterMINatE **the ruffians rummaging around my current housing?"

"Nice to see you back again, Ordis." He replies with a hint of a genuine smile, "I've been poring over the notes that you gave me, but I don't think we're moving you anywhere until I can study these notes in more detail. Status on your power levels?"

"I can manage those myself, Operator. As of the moment, the Orokin cells will run out in about... three-hundred and seventy-seven Sol years. Is that time frame manageable?"

"More than manageable, Ordis." Aspidas shoots back with a smile. "I'll be dead before you shut down. How are you feeling?"

"Being unable to access the Cephalon Weave is... disorienting. While I had stored archives of this 'Remnant' onto the Orbiter currently piloted by that **bITc**–other Tenno, any information pertaining to this planet is now gone or lost from memory.. Except for yours, of course." Ordis says in the same cheerful tone as ever. "I am assuming that you want to establish communications with me at the earliest convenience?"

"Am I that easy to read?"

"No. It is only natural for someone as **s-s-s-sMArT **as the Operator to come to the same conclusion as Ordis. Perhaps you could use the same communicator as that Warframe over there?" The soft blue glow around the Liset tightens to a specific area, one that Aspidas tried to ignore up until now. The Oberon Warframe stared at him with unblinking eyes, the communicator laying smack dab on the middle of its left wrist, and all that he had to do was to yank it out and wear it as his own.

Desecrating the dead was unforgivable, but being stuck in a desperate position, there was not much else to do. "Sorry, buddy." Aspidas whispers to the Oberon, a tinge of hollowness in their voice while they fit the communicator onto their own wrist, "I swear I'll give this back to you after I can get you working again."

Until then, it was back to the grind. Aspidas sighed and settled in for another few hours spent on cramming Orokin engineering.

...

**AN: I have a feeling that most would have questions about this, so I'll answer it now. I won't be including any new stuff in the story. Aspidas left the Origin System around the end of the first Nightwave intermission, so he isn't around to see Arlo and friends, Sonicc boii, along with Kuva Liches and Thicc boi. Unless they come to Remnant.**

**Which they aren't. All discussions about this are closed. Along with the upcoming Railjack.**


	19. 2-2: Coincidences

...

_"Visiting Vale would be a good use of time. If what you're planning goes through, then it means I have little time to enjoy the Kingdom before it is reduced to rubble." _

Those were the words that littered through Aspidas' head, a way of convincing this 'Salem' to indulge in their curiosity. Nevermind that she was thinking that he might eliminate her vaunted arch-nemesis for him, the snake in glasses known as Ozpin. However, Aspidas did not expect his crashlanding on Remnant to have that much of an effect on his psyche.

"Operator, you seem to be suffering from a slightly elevated heart rate. Is everything fine?" Ordis asks, and a light chuckle escapes Aspidas' lips as he reassures his Cephalon that he was fine. There was a part of him that wailed at the fact that he had a slight fear of heights, but who could blame him after having survived reentry through an out-of-control Liset?

He was fine. A slight fear was unexpected at this point. In fact, it would be more conspicuous if he simply brushed off the impact without so much as a rattle. Or maybe it would fit into 'Salem's' perception of him more? Problems, problems.

"Have some trouble flying?" A voice asks beside him, and he spares a glance towards his seatmate, a scruffy-looking man looking about forty Sols in outward age. Said seatmate promptly pulls a flask out of their clothing, the acrid smell of alcohol hitting Aspidas' face nary a moment later. He blinks a second after to find said flask being offered to him. "Here. Might help you calm down a bit."

"You're not even asking me if I'm too young to drink?" Aspidas asks with a raised brow. He could vaguely remember such a law in the Kingdoms' systems. His seatmate merely laughed and slapped him by the shoulder.

"With that missing arm of yours? I can reckon you've been through a fair share of trouble. You deserve it." Once more, Aspidas stares at the flask thrust into his hands with caution, scrunching his brows at the object even as his seatmate groans and rolls their red eyes." Come on, kid. Just get it over with. The sooner you do so, the sooner I get my own swig."

"Consuming such a beverage is unhealthy."

"Kid, you haven't even tasted it. How do you know if it's unhealthy or not?" The infuriating my seatmate asks, and Aspidas scowls once more before taking a sip out of the flask. He hacks and coughs the moment the alcohol enters his esophagus, pushing back the flask of alcohol back into his seatmate's waiting hands while glaring at them with as much force as they could muster. It wasn't much, but it was enough.

"You've sweared me off from consuming any kind of alcohol in the future. My thanks to you." Aspidas blankly replies, a vindictive part of their mind cheering at the devastated expression on their seat mate's face, only for the celebration to be cut short as static forms on the surfaces of the speakers around the former Tenno's current vehicle.

"All passengers, fasten your seatbelts. We are on approach to Vale."

Aspidas spares a gaze out the window, only to scoff at the sounds of wonder all around him. The view didn't compare to seeing Lua during its days of glory. _"How droll, Operator. Such a sight is a **t-t-tRaVESTy **for your eyes."_

"I couldn't agree with you more on that, Ordis."

"So, why'd you come here to Vale?" His seatmate butts in, causing Aspidas to scowl as they disable the communicator with naught but a mere thought. Annoying didn't describe the person that they were unfortunate enough to be seated with. "Looking for work? Hard to see that you're a Huntsman at your age, but I can see that you have some experience under your belt."

Just because he only looked about twenty Sols of age... "You can say that. Some extra money to kick-start my business capital to tide me over for the moment."

Go away. That was the main thought that Aspidas kept sending his seatmate, but whoever they were, they didn't have an ounce of basic decency. It was hard to find them a Huntsman, but the weapon sheathed by the small cabinet in front of them did not lie. Aspidas had caught a glimpse of the heavy-looking broadsword that they had stowed away in the compartment, and it had looked dangerous. "Hm... Retiring early at this stage of your life? Kind of throws away all the things you learned in Huntsmen Academies, isn't it?"

Aspidas' mind flashes back to the Orokin's attempts to 'control' us for our own ends. A dark scowl forms on his face as he crosses his remaining arm over his chest. "Better realize such a thing now than never."

His seatmate glances towards the stump on Aspidas' right elbow, drinking another sip out of their alcoholic flask just as the vehicle that they are on shifts ever-so slightly to begin landing on the city-Kingdom of Vale.

"Ain't that the truth..."

...

An aggrieved sigh escapes Aspidas' lips while supporting his newly-forged acquaintance, their lips turned down into a permanent scowl. "Ordis, any ideas to get rid of the excess alcohol content in this man's blood?"

_"Ordis highly suggests cremation–" _

"Nevermind. Forget I asked." Aspidas shakes his head, balancing the forty Sol man with his remaining arm while all but dragging them across Beacon's courtyard. Of course he remembers this place. He had been here for what was a few months back, after all. Although judging by the merely curious stares sent by the individuals his way, they don't seem to remember him. All the more better.

"Last that I remember, it's a straight line to that snake's office..." He mutters to himself, heaving up his unfortunate companion once more while trudging his way towards the rest of the distance with a forlorn expression on his face. He was here to merely sightsee. How was he dragged into escorting a deadbeat drunk to his destination?

"Uncle Qrow!"

The former Tenno blinks, plucking a rose petal out of the air whilst glancing around him, finding a young girl about fifteen Sols of age revolving around his drunk companion at a dizzying speed. A second later, he finds his path blocked by the same girl with hands on their hips, cheeks puffed out as if trying to be intimidating. The outstretched finger was also a nice touch. "You! What did you do to Uncle Qrow?!"

"Qrow, eh..." I trail off, a glint of recognition behind my gaze while humming at the various implications that ran through my mind. Ozpin's little right-hand man, wasn't he? Such a small world that I found myself in. "As you can see, he's drunk. The attendant at the transports forced me on him, so I had no choice but to deliver him to his destination. Beacon and someone called 'Ozpin' where all that I could coax out of him."

"That sounds like my Uncle, alright..." The girl replies with a considering expression, all the while I look at Qrow with more vitriol than before. Not even an ounce of faith from the rest of his family. Was it all a ruse, or something else? "Still, what makes you qualified to just deliver him to the Headmaster?"

"I'm his seatmate on the transport."

"Oh."

The girl looked sheepish, twiddling their thumbs just before another woman steps into the scene, laying a hand down onto the girl's shoulder with practiced ease. "Now, now, Rubes, better give this guy the benefit of the doubt first. You came here on business with the Headmaster?"

_"You!" _

A wave of energy washes over me, all the while I smile at the oncoming figure, hand tightly gripped onto their weapon while viridian eyes glared at me from behind thin frames. She looked mostly healed from her endeavour, but there was no mistaking the way she moved in front of the pair of girls in order to shield them from me. How quaint. "Why hello, there. I believe I haven't gotten your name since the last time that we met."

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch." She seethed, glancing towards Qrow before quickly flicking her gaze back towards me. I could see a few bricks rising from the ground behind her. "And you shall tell me what you did to my colleague, or _else..."_

She would couldn't finish her threat. I tossed Qrow towards her, his drunken body being held aloft by an unknown force, all the while I walked past her whilst nudging a floating brick to the side." An unlucky coincidence, I assure you. He got drunk on the way here, and considering that we have the same destination..."

"I am watching you, _Tenno." _She stresses, falling into line behind me while I chuckle and lay a hand against one of my nikanas. Just in case.

In any case, I do think that a little talk is required at the moment.


End file.
